Amidst the current economic hardship and the fuel scarcity hitting the country hard in its jaws, the former Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to the ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Doyin Okupe, has called on the President Buhari-led administration to scrap the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA.
The former Special Adviser added that President Muhammadu Buhari is in a much better position based on the current state of affairs in the country to provide a lasting solution to the problem as the administration had found a clever way to remove fuel subsidy without uprising.
Okupe, in an article released on his Facebook page said; “This government, unlike its predecessor, is luckier because it has removed the controversial fuel subsidy without rancour and upheaval. What it must now do is to take the next bold step and take the deregulation of the downstream oil sector to a logical conclusion. The PPPRA should be scrapped because its continued existence runs contrary to the fundamental principle of deregulation and liberalisation of the energy sector.
“The constant fuel scarcity with its attendant pains and misery is here again. This problem has affected our country for decades now. For most part of the last administration, it was contained to some extent by the government which pandered to the repeated threats and blackmail of the league of importers and the members of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Association. The government did this at very great and sometimes unjustifiable costs. The present economic condition, however, precludes the government from delving into such luxury.”
Referencing countries such so Benin Republic, Mali, Tanzania, and Uganda, Okupe noted that the named countries were not experiencing fuel scarcity although they are non oil-producing states, he noted that the Federal Government needs to dismantle all holds on Petroleum products importation.
He added that; “Finally, of great concern to me is the unwritten discriminatory and insensitive policy of petrol stations nationwide not to sell petrol to people in jerrycans. It is the poor and middle class among us who need to fill their small generator with petrol just to get a few hours of sleep after the labour of the day.
“Those of us who are rich need petrol for our cars and diesel for our generators. Travelling by motorcars is equally dangerous because of accidents but we don’t ban the purchase of cars. Rather, we warn road users about the dangers of bad driving and get drivers to comply with driving regulations.”