Move against oil cabal now, NLC tells Jonathan

The Nigeria Labour Congress has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to take a decisive action against the oil cabal that has foisted the current scarcity of petroleum products on the country.

The President, NLC, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, said the time had come for the President to act in view of the negative impact of the actions of the cabal on commercial and social activities in the land a few days to the end of his administration.

Wabba, whose comments were contained in an electronic mail sent to our correspondent on Monday, said the cabal was orchestrating the current scarcity in order to fleece the Federal Government of billions of dollars in the name of subsidy for services not rendered to the country.

The NLC president wondered how the Federal Government allowed the cabal to perpetrate a regime of impunity and corruption in the critical oil sector over the years.

He urged the President to take stern measures against those behind the current fuel scarcity to send out a strong message that no set of people, no matter how powerful, would be allowed to hold the country to ransom.

Wabba said, 'The Nigeria Labour Congress has watched with utter disgust and dismay how business and commercial activities in the country have been brought literally to a halt as a result of the activities of a mindless and cruel cabal that has taken absolute grip of the petroleum import business.

'Clearly, the objective of the cabal in the current impasse is to arm-twist the Federal Government to part with billions of dollars, which it had not earned, in the name of fuel subsidy payments.

'More curious, however, is the fact that the Federal Government has allowed this cabal to continue to hold the entire country to ransom, thereby escalating the regime of impunity and unimaginable corruption, which has taken complete hold of the operations of our petroleum sector and causing the country to lose billions of dollars over the years.

'As Mr. President has had cause to remind Nigerians in the weeks following the March 28, 2015 presidential election, that he was still in charge of running the country, the NLC hereby calls on him to take firm and decisive action by calling to order all those in the petroleum sector that have one way or the other brought this crisis upon the nation.

'The implicit message in such a definitive action will show that no one - businessmen and women and their collaborators in and out of government - is strong enough to hold the entire people of Nigeria and its government to ransom.'

He urged the President to identify the officials of his administration whose failure in the performance of their responsibilities was responsible for the current chaos in the oil sector for necessary sanctions.

He said that it was important for Jonathan to hand over the culprits to the incoming administration for investigation and sanctions where necessary. Punch