In Nigeria, a member of the House of Representatives, George Ibezimako Ozodinobi from the Labour Party, has called for the country to withdraw from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). He made this statement during a recent House session, supporting a motion raised by the House Minority Leader, Kingley Chinda from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The motion addressed the rising prices of petrol and cooking gas.
The lawmakers urged President Bola Tinubu’s government to reverse the recent price hikes of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), commonly known as cooking gas. Ozodinobi argued that it is time for the Nigerian government to stop following international pricing standards for crude oil. He suggested that the government should sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery at a lower exchange rate.
Ozodinobi also pointed out that although the government approved a new minimum wage of N70,000, the rising costs of petrol and food have made it hard for workers to survive. He mentioned that the minimum wage often runs out in just three days, leaving many families struggling.
Ozodinobi said, “I want to draw the attention of all of us that in the recent past, the federal government gave a minimum wage of N70,000 per month, and just a week or two ago, there was an increase of fuel price.
“I’m telling you from personal experience, my driver, I approved his transport of N3,000 transportation a day, has come up with the bill of N6,000 transportation just to come to work.
“All these things are affecting the entire state of our people. We cannot transport food from our constituencies or our constituents cannot transport their produce from the farm to markets with a much lesser cost.
“The increase of food prices in this country, somebody who is earning N70,000 per month, his N70,000 cannot last him for three days in this country, in the same government, the same policy.
“I want to thank God for the life of Aliko Dangote who has through other investors, come up with a refinery. I want us to pressurise the government, because not all countries that produce petroleum are in OPEC.”
According to him, “We need to review our OPEC policy. We mustn’t be in OPEC because the only thing that will solve this problem of petroleum increase is to use what we have to solve our problem.
“In other words, I’m advocating that the NNPCL (Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited), the government should, as a matter of policy, sell the crude oil we produce to Dangote at a reduced foreign exchange because their hands are tied, we will have to review the policies we have with OPEC. We mustn’t be there.
“We have crude oil. Dangote must be given our crude oil at a reduced foreign exchange, not on international standard.”
The House of Representatives emphasized the urgent need for measures such as price relief, tax reductions, or subsidies to help low-income households. The lawmakers noted that many Nigerians rely on petrol and cooking gas as their main energy sources, making the recent price increases unbearable for ordinary citizens.
In conclusion, the call to exit OPEC highlights the ongoing economic challenges in Nigeria and the need for government action to ensure that essential energy sources remain affordable for everyone.
