The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has demanded that the federal government clarify its true position on the petrol subsidy removal policy.
This is even as the chamber lamented that the prices of petrol have risen by approximately 430 percent since President Tinubu came into power.
According to Gabriel Idahosa, president of LCCI in a statement on Friday, 11 October 2024, he opined that the price hike might be part of the government’s intention to fully deregulate the oil and gas sector and implement a complete petrol subsidy removal policy.
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He, however, said the controversies surrounding the policy contribute significantly to the distortions in the business environment.
“We try to understand that the recent fuel price hikes could be the government’s intention to fully deregulate the oil and gas sector and implement a complete fuel subsidy removal policy,” Idahosa said.
“However, the dynamics and controversies around these steps create most of the distortions we experience in the business environment, making businesses operate under dark clouds of uncertainties.
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“It has become difficult to understand the plans and moves taken by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, and the various oil and gas sector regulators in the face of recent happenings.
“The controversies surrounding the working relationship between NNPCL and the Dangote Refinery are equally confusing.”
The LCCI president said since the current administration came into power, petrol prices have risen by approximately 430 percent.
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Idahosa said businesses have continued to grapple with escalating operating costs, including rising logistics and power supply expenses, as well as a shortage of foreign exchange (FX) for critical imports.
He said these may worsen in the coming months due to a thriving speculative environment, harsh regulatory ecosystem, unguided controversies, persistent insecurity challenges, and weakening purchasing power that restrains demand for goods and services.
“With the CBN’s monetary policy rate at 27.25 percent (with allowance up to about 34%), inflation elevated at 32.15 percent (August 2024), an exchange rate above N1620 per USD Dollar, and an unemployment rate at 5.3 percent, we run a business environment that is too tense for businesses to thrive,” he said.
