Protest: It Is Impossible To Fix Refineries In A Short Time– Shehu Sani

A former Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani has said that President Bola Tinubu’s administration cannot fix Nigeria’s moribund refineries in a short time.

The former lawmaker made the comment on Arise Tv in the wake of a national protest organised by the Nigerian Labour Congress on Wednesday.

The union and some of its affiliates are protesting the hardship induced by the removal of fuel subsidy by Tinubu without putting adequate plans to hedge the resultant hardships.

Fuel prices have risen above N600 per litre while the consumer price index has surged to 22.7 per cent and is projected to hit 30 per cent soon.

The Joe Ajareo-led NLC demanded an increase in the minimum wage and emergency fixing of the refineries among other demands.

Sani said, “The demands of labour are legitimate and from my own understanding, I have not seen the government directly but where you have a communication gap is a lack of coordination. For example, when you talk of an increase in wages, I have read somewhere that the government said they will increase wages.

“When you talk of refineries, I have read many times where the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL made pledges that they are working on that.”

According to him, demands like fixing the Port Harcourt Refinery, Warri Refinery and the Kaduna Refinery are not feasible in the short run.

He, however, recalled that the President sponsored a national wide protest in 2012 against the Goodluck Jonathan government when the subsidy was removed.

The protest was tagged, ‘Occupy Nigeria’.

Sani said, “But the problem is that there are short-term things that can be done. But the repairs of refineries cannot be done within 24 hours, one, two months or five months and these are structures that have been abandoned for many years and many of them have been vandalised and if we say we have to put the refineries in order before we now take any action, I think it will take 70 per cent of this administration.

“When you have a team set up, all these demands can be put on the table and say these are the things we can do immediately like the increase of wages and then providing finance for conversion of vehicle from petroleum to gas and next has to do with direct financial support for Nigerians.

“Where we are today is the position where Tinubu and other progressive forces have been. For many times, the civil society groups, and the political class have led protests against the removal of subsidy right from (Ibrahim) Babangida to (Olusegun) Obasanjo’s time and to even (Goodluck) Jonathan’s period.”