The Minority in Parliament has given indications of proceeding to court to force the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to resume its duties of pricing petroleum products.
The Minority spokesperson on Energy, K.T Hammond on the Citi Breakfast Show indicated that the NPA’s policy which took effect on Monday, June 15, 2015 is an illegality which must be corrected.
“For now, we are worried about the constitutionality of it. It is for NPA to set the prices, it is not GOIL or the OMCs [Oil Marketing Companies]…We would have to go to court to stop this government from proceeding with this illegality. It is wrong and we will not allow it,” he said.
[contextly_sidebar id=”nqrF6omGeJzFMjhCG1dDIlvhPX7kOHtA”]The OMCs have begun determining the prices of petroleum products as a result of steps being taken by the NPA to deregulate the petroleum sector.
Although the NPA has said it will strictly monitor the activities of the OMCs and BDCs, consumers have expressed worry about the new development which they say is likely to result in high pricing of the products.
KT Hammond bemoaned the government’s appetite for engaging in illegalities.
“The NDC [National Democratic Congress]; illegality is in their DNA! They simply cannot divorce themselves from acts of unlawfulness. It is completely wrong!” he fumed.
The former Deputy Energy Minister argued that the new pricing regime is confusing and the NPA must come to Parliament to seek approval before relegating its duties to the OMCs.
“My understanding was that they were going to take it through Parliament and seek to review whatever there is to review in the NPA Act of 2005 and more importantly, the LI…The LI gives NPA the functions of setting out the formality and the modality, what the price is going to be,” he said.
KT Hammond stressed that the NPA does not have the authority “to shirk their responsibility and ask the OMCs to do that. It is wrong, it is illegal!”
“If they are going to go ahead and whether it is proper for deregulation to proceed…if it is right or wrong, it will be a matter to be debated in a different forum.”
Initial confusion will normalize
The Chief Executive Officer of the NPA, Moses Asaga also on the Citi Breakfast Show indicated that the ongoing deregulation “only means prices will be going up and down…”
He admitted that at the initial stages, the OMCs will face challenges in pricing their products while consumers will also be filled with uncertainties, but he was quick to add that the situation will normalize within a week or two.
“We are just beginning the practice so we know that there will be a few difficulties and confusion in people’s minds but I believe that going deep into the week, people will be able to find tuning and in the next two weeks, people will continue to find tune but today, what is likely to happen is that a lot of Oil Marketing Companies may be stranded in the sense that they may still be displaying old prices.”
Nobody can win petroleum subsidy argument
Moses Asaga was of the view that the argument on petroleum subsidy can never be won by any one.
According to him, what the government is presently doing is “very practical.”
“We are saying that government cannot sustain subsidies, therefore, we should try and liberalize the price so that the investor can feel more confident to bring in petroleum products so that there will be uninterrupted supply of petroleum products at moderate prices so that we can all enjoy our business and be able to move around,” he said.
“Any other talk about the theory of subsidy and taxation is a thing of the past…There will still be uniform petroleum pricing,” he added.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com./Ghana
Follow @ osamidan