President Umaru Musa Yar�Adua yesterday regretted the hardship experienced by Nigerians as a result of the four-day antionwide strike over fuel price increase.
The President, however, thanked the organised labour and Nigerians for their understanding and patience during the strike.
Leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) called off the strike Saturday night after reaching a late night agreement with the Federal Government. The pump price of petrol, however, remains the N70 per litre, which the Federal Government offered when it began negotiations with labour.
Reports from across the states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja last night showed that most of the filling stations had adjusted their pumps to N70 per litre, but long queues were formed at these stations by motorists desperate to buy petrol.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Communications, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, Pres-ident Yar�Adua gave kudos to the labour leaders for the high degree of patriotism and understanding exhibited during discussions and negotiations before, during and after the strike.
He described as unacceptable the nation�s reliance on imported fuel despite Nigeria being one of the world�s biggest exporters of crude oil.
The President also said he was committed to doing all within his powers to evolve and implement an action plan that would permanently resolve the longstanding question of government subsidies on the domestic prices of petroleum products which has perennially caused civil unrest in the country.
In accepting the N70 per litre which they initially rejected, President Yar�Adua was said to have made a personal commitment to the labour leaders that his regime would not increase the price of petrol within the next one year. The pump price of petrol was N65 per litre previously but former President Olusegun Obas-anjo jerked the price up to N75 in the twilight of his reign, a decision which largely caused the strike.
Adeniyi said: �An aspect of our present situation that exacerbates the subsidy question is the near total reliance on imported petroleum in spite of our status as one of the world�s biggest exporters of crude oil.
�President Yar�Adua finds this totally unacceptable and is therefore giving urgent attention to re-establishing and boosting domestic refining capacity and rehabilitating the country�s pipelines network, damage to which has severely restricted the operations of the country�s refineries.
�The President commends the men and officers of the Police and other security agencies for the high degree of professionalism they exhibited in the course of the strike. He also welcomes the patriotism and sense of responsibility shown by the labour leaders in suspending the strike,� Adeniyi said.
President Yar�Adua said he desired the establishment of a new culture of engagement between labour and government that �will be based on mutual trust and respect, good faith and honesty of purpose so that disagreements can be resolved amicably, without necessarily resorting to strikes that paralyse economic and social activities and cause untold hardships for ordinary Nigerians.�
The President pledged that he would rededicate himself to the task of repositioning the country for peace, rapid development and prosperity while assuring that the commitments made by the Federal Government in the course of negotiations to end the strike would also be expeditiously implemented.
Meanwhile, in compliance with a directive by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), petroleum marketers in Lagos and environs, as well as the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja yesterday adjusted the pump price for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol to N70.
Also, lifting of petroleum products was were suspended following the four- day strike embarked upon by labour unions has commenced at the various depots nationwide.
The Federal Government had on Monday reduced the petroleum pump price to N70 from the N75 which was announced two days to the exit of former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
Some major marketers and independent petroleum marketers confirmed to THISDAY yesterday that they had been formally directed by the pricing regulatory agency to immediately adjust petroleum pump price to the N70 agreed by both the government and labour.
��The new price has been implemented, you can see we have adjusted the pumps to N70�� a filling station attendant told THISDAY during a visit to one of the filling stations.
However, most of the filling stations in Lagos were still not selling, while very long queues were noticeable at the few that had the product due to the rush by motorists who needed to fuel their vehicles since normal business activities begin today.
Attendants at the filling stations where the product was not being sold explained that they ran out of stock, and needed to get supplies from tomorrow morning, since they could not do that due to the strike.
A PPPRA source who confirmed that the agency has issued a directive to marketers to effect the new pump price, explained that the agency had to ensure that the issue of pricing had been resolved by both the government and labour before issuing any such directive.
At the federal capital territory, most filling stations which had remained shut following the strike yesterday opened for business.
One of such was the Total filling station, opposite Police Headquarters in Asokoro, which thrived in dispensing fuel in jerry can to buyers who paid more, which yesterday resumed normal activities as motorists, with the aid of the Civil Defense Corp, drove in with ease to fuel their cars.
Also Conoil Stations, as well as NNPC Mega Station at Central Area resume full stream operation yesterday as attendants were seen discharging fuel to the motorists who were on snake line queues a little distance away from the filling stations.
Similarly, normal flight operations resumed yesterday at both the Abuja and Lagos airports .
However, black market still boomed yesterday, both in FCT and Lagos, as only a few stations had fuel. The situation is expected to normalize by today when more filling stations would have been supplied with the product.
Labour unions on Saturday night decided to suspend the four-day general strike embarked upon by workers to protest the hikes in petrol pump price and Vat, as well as the sale of some government assets, including the Port Harcourt Refinery.
The decision to call off the industrial action which grounded activities nation-wide followed the intervention by President Yar�Adua, who also ordered a reduction in the petroleum pump price, and the suspension of implementation of the 100 per cent VAT hike.
The government had assured the labour leaders that there will not be upward review of the new price of petroleum products in the next one year and that an expert committee would be set up to look into pricing mechanism in the oil sector and to examine the privatization and concession, especially the recent sale of government equity in the refineries.
Jun252007