By Barnabas Esiet.
The rising price of gas, used as alternative source of power generation in Nigeria, is not going down well with many manufacturers in the country operating under the auspices of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).
Consequently, the national chairman of Non Metallic Mining Group of MAN, Mallinson Ukatu, has expressed concern over the increase while calling on the relevant authorities to lessen the plight of its members who are currently most affected due to inefficient power supply from the national grid.
“At this time when the global economy is facing challenges I expect the government to give palliative to manufacturers to cushion the resultant effect of the ongoing pandemic instead of raising the price of the commodity.” Ukatu said.
He also decried the situation whereby manufactures are being charged in US dollars for gas consumed locally, noting that MAN had for long been voicing out its disapproval and asking government to reverse the trend.
“It is very painful that gas, which is gotten from our soil, is being sold to us in US Dollars, more so now that the exchange rate has gone up following the technical devaluation of the Naira coupled with scarcity of Forex that have pushed production cost up by over 30 percent.” He exclaimed.
chairman of Non Metallic Mining Group of MAN, Mallinson Ukatu
For his part, the Chairman, Oil and Gas Sectorial Group of MAN, Dr. Micheal Adebayo, says they are working in collaboration with the Federal Government to revert the payment of gas consumed locally from Dollar to Naira and ensure that gas is available for domestic consumption at all times.
“Before the end of 2020, the PIB must have been implemented and once this is done, we would enjoy maximum benefit and the nation’s economy would experience boom, because more consumers of gas would emerge and gas would become more relevant to the Nigerian economy than oil.” He explained.
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