Abuja – The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry Limited (ACCIL) on Thursday expressed support for Wednesday’s petrol price increase to N145 per litre by the Federal Government.
This is contained in a statement in Abuja by President of the chamber, Mr Tony Ejikeonye.
“We believe that deregulating the petroleum downstream sector is a sure step towards economic and national development; therefore, we support it.
“As a chamber of commerce and industry, we have always supported policies of government that are geared towards enhancing the welfare of Nigeria’s citizens, especially business concerns.
“Albeit the policy may seem to be draconian at first, nothing pays more than patience and sacrifice.
“The policy will affect business operations but we believe that subsequent inflow or investment into the sector will crash prices,” he said.
Ejinkonye recalled that the same thing happened with cement and telecommunications and in the long run, it was good for the economy.
According to him, countries like Indonesia, Ethiopia, Malaysia, where deregulation of the petroleum downstream sub-sector had gained ground never found it easy at first “but they endured, and are now enjoying’’.
He expressed the belief that Nigerians would overcome the upheavals associated with the implementation of the policy.
The chamber president said that though deregulation may seem draconian, it would bring unrestricted competition that would lead to unparallel development in the Nigeria economy.
He said that the gains realized from the subsidy removal if properly managed, would aid in providing critical infrastructure in the country.
According to him, it will also accelerate employment opportunities for the teeming youths in the country.
Ejinkonye said that the Organized Private Sector in Abuja would continue to engage the government to ensure that companies licensed for building refineries delivered on their mandates.
He said that government alone could not absorb the graduates whose number increased geometrically on a yearly basis, given that investors employed domestic labour for their operations.
He said that the deregulation of the downstream sub-sector would further trim economic problems and lighten social burdens caused by government control. (NAN)