Former president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Peter Esele Monday said that the National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which is largely seen as corrupt by most Nigerians will prove a tough nut to crack for General Muhammadu Buhari if he does not already have a properly worked out plan to manage the excesses of the organization.
Esele also predicted a hard time overall for the country in 2015 because of the ailing economy and poor oil prices. With such a tough environment, Esele noted that the new administration would have a tough time this year.
On the current fuel scarcity, Esele said that the marketers wanted their money from the government because they were not confident of getting the amount they were owed from the incoming administration.
According to him, without a strong resolve, the NNPC would absorb him (Buhari) into the same system that Nigerians have been crying against. Esele however, noted that being seen as uncorrupt could work well for the administration if Buhari stood his ground and does not allow himself to be enticed like former presidents like Olusegun Obasanjo did.
“If the incoming government does not have a plan for the oil sector already, it will have a big problem with (sanitizing) the NNPC. This is because it could become absorbed by the organization. Obasanjo tried to sanitize but was not able to.
“What the incoming president has going for him is that people say is that he is not corrupt so people have to follow his lead. But if he lets himself to be absorbed by the NNPC, then there would be a big problem with handling the NNPC,” Esele said.
“2015 will be a tough year for Nigeria. Oil is not going to return to 100 or 120 dollars a barrel for the next one. Buhari is going to need all the support he can get to move this country forward.”
“The fear of the marketers is that they want their money before the new government comes in on May 29. They will be in for a rougher deal (with the new government) which is why the marketers want their money now.”
Esele noted that the marketers, who are still owed around 200billion, are able to hold the whole of Nigeria to ransom because the government does not keep proper records and because they (the marketers) operate a monopoly. This is why deregulation of the sector to break the monopoly is a move that is being called for by the people.
“The government and the markers cannot agree on money owed because they (the government) do not keep proper records. If proper records were kept, we would not be held to ransom like this.
“The marketers say that the government owed them over 356 billion and the government paid 156billion and therefore still owes them 200billion, which is what they are asking for.
“What the marketers want is to collect as much as they can. That is what they are trying to make the government do. They can do this because the market is a monopoly. Nigeria gets its products from only them.”
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