BY HUGO ODIOGOR
The Director of Lagos Business School, Prof Pat Utomi has denounced the Federal Government imposition of collective tax on Nigerians in the guise of deregulation of the prices of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS.

Prof Utomi, who was the presidential candidate of Social Democratic Mega Party, SDMP, said the Federal Government has sold a dummy to Nigerians that the increase in the pump price of fuel was a product of its policy on deregulation “when in actual fact the government is using it as a disguised taxation  on petroleum,  to raise revenue as it is still business as usual in the process of importation and distribution of fuel by cronies and lackeys of government.”

Prof Utomi said a genuine process of deregulation of the petroleum sector will entail transparent process of  privatisation and divestment of  government interest, encouragement of new players, especially those that want to set up private refineries, and restriction of governments role to regulation and collection of taxes.”

According to Prof Utomi, “what we have today is the Federal Government hiding behind PPPRA to use its cronies that import petroleum products from outside the country to bring in the product, and sell to Nigerians at a price that is collectively agreed between the importers and the PPPRA to the detriment of the already impoverished Nigerians”.

He said ‘’What the Federal Government is selling to Nigerians in the guise of deregulation is a tax on fuel because it wants to generate and put more revenue in the hands of government at the expense of the people”.

He said for us to experience economic progress in the country, they must be a balance between the  critical sectors of the economy namely the public sector, the business sector, foreign investment and household or personal finance, non of these sectors must develop at the expense of the other” It must be recalled that the inability of household  to spend  in the United States led to the meltdown in 2008”

According to him, “there is a complete misunderstanding of the process of deregulation and what government intends to achieve from imposing a tax on price of petrol. In other countries where such policy is implemented, the idea is usually to encourage people to use public transport like the train system, and discourage them from using their SUVs that are known for their high consumption of petrol”.

He said the philosophy behind the setting up of the Kolade Committee “is to borrow on the moral authority of Dr. Christopher Kolade and the credibility of other Nigerians to pacify Nigerians to accept the new policy, if there is deregulation, we do not need the Kolade Committee to manage the proceeds of subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme”.

He said “there is no deregulation in what the government has done, rather, it is imposition of taxes on petroleum products because some faceless individuals rather than market forces, are the ones to determine the prices of petroleum products”.

He said government has not addressed the issue of improving the capacity of domestic refining of petroleum product which will create jobs and economy of scale. It has not addressed the issue of cutting down on the irresponsible spending of government, which includes keeping 11 air crafts in presidential fleet, when the entire country has no national carrier.

Prof. Utomi said if there is proper deregulation, corporate organisations and individuals will be encouraged to build refineries, ‘’but there are some vested interests that would not want to see the country refine petroleum locally.

According to him, if there is proper deregulation, prices will go up in the interim, but competition will drive the price down, but what is happening now is government trying to use power to force a  fuel tax on Nigerians. I can assure you that in six months time we will come back to the issue of subsidy on fuel.

….It ‘s an affront on Nigerians—Sen Adetunmbi
BY INALEGWU SHAIBU

ABUJA—Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi, ACN, Ekiti North, has described the sudden removal of fuel subsidy by President Goodluck Jonathan without input from the National Assembly as an affront on Nigerians.

Senator Adetunmbi in statement said the action of the President rubbishes the integrity and the constitutional rights of the legislature.

The statement read in part, “This Senate has been sidelined in this decision and its collective mandate as the representatives of the people thoroughly rubbished.

“The constitutional roles of the legislature is gradually being eroded by a President that has the temerity to spend over N800 billion on subsidy outside the appropriation act during the yet to end 2011 budget.

“The NASS and the people have asked questions and request for explanations for this constitutional infraction to which the President is yet to provide any answers.”

“The President acted peremptorily and makes nonsense of efforts of the Senate to get to the bottom of the perennial fraud of subsidy management which the senate committee on petroleum is trying to unearth.

“The exclusion of the National Assembly from this far-reaching economic decision when the 2012 budget is still under consideration represents poor political judgment on the part of the President and his Advisers. This unilateral decision runs against the grains of inclusive and representative democracy.”

He stressed  that the sudden removal of subsidy is contrary to an  earlier affirmations from the President and the Minister of Finance that the policy was undergoing review was an indication of government acting in dishonour.

According to him, “In a manner totally lacking in honour and integrity that is expected of an elected government, the Federal Government sprung a New Year’s Day surprise on a nation already reeling under the brutal onslaught of Boko Haram and a worsening human development indices”.

He urged the Senate to disregard the invitation to be part of the Christopher Kolade led board which is set to oversee the reinvestment of the subsidy windfall, having being left out in the beginning.

“The National Assembly to provide two representatives to serve on the Governing Board of Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE) is the tokenistic, patronizing and a subtle attempt to drag the legislature into unpopular executive decisions. It will undermine the independence of the Senate and erode the potency of its oversight functions.”

…bitter pill for Nigerians to swallow — Cleric
BY CHIDI NKWOPARA
OWERRI—THE Anglican Bishop of Egbu Diocese, Prof Emmanuel Iheagwam, yesterday said the removal of fuel subsidy was a bitter pill Nigerians must swallow for a better tomorrow.

It was the considered opinion of Bishop Iheagwam that the issue was very sensitive, adding that impoverished Nigerians don’t seem prepared to take any further battering..

“Nigerians are already impoverished and don’t seem prepared for any further battering through the removal of fuel subsidy, more so when nothing was done with the money that accrued from the earlier graduated fuel subsidy removal,” the Anglican cleric said.

Iheagwam described Nigerians as “very resilient people”, adding that what the citizenry wanted from the Presidency was firm assurance that monies saved from the withdrawal would be judiciously applied.

On the planned confrontation of the Federal Government by the organised labour and civil society groups, the Bishop pleaded: “Let us not visit the sins of the previous administrations on the present one.

Transport fare has since jumped through the roof, while a number of the filling station that shut their doors to customers during the Christmas and New Year festivities, have resumed sales.