FG caves in to Labour, appoints chairman for PPPRA Board

The Federal Government has acceded to the demand of the Nigeria Labour Congress for the appointment of a chairman for the Board of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency.

A new Chairman, Alhaji Muhammadu Buba, was confirmed appointed on Wednesday.

Buba was a former Managing Director of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company.

He appointment was confirmed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, at the resumed negotiation meeting between the Federal Government and organised Labour.

The appointment of a chairman for the PPPRA Board has been one of the demands of Labour during its three-day strike, which has just been called off.

Lawal said at the meeting: “On the issue of PPPRA board, I am glad to announce that the President has approved the appointment of Alhaji Muhammadu Buba, a former Managing Director of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company as the chairman of the board.”

Reacting to the development, the President of the NLC, Ayuba Wabba, said: “We have looked at the totality of the issues that are in contention, especially the issue of the pump price.

“We have set up a technical committee to look at the details.

“The fact that the pricing issue and the template have to be considered by an appropriate body, which by law is Petroleum Pricing Product Regulation Agency.

“Part of the issue we discussed is to get that board in place.

“As you know for the past few years, that board has not been in place.

“It is their responsibility to actually interrogate the template that has been used to arrive at the price of N145 per litre and we have been able to get it constituted.”