Fuel Price: N1.50K Reduction Is Offensive, Insensitive – PDP
…Berates APC for manipulating prices, fleecing Nigerians
BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has described the reduction of fuel pump price by N1.50k as offensive, fraudulent and a further display of cruelty and insensitivity of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration to the plight of Nigerians, particularly as the nation battles the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Party insists that the correct price of pump price fuel is between N80 to N90 per liter, given the slump in the price of fuel and crude oil in the international market.
It stressed that it indeed smacks of heartlessness that the APC, its leaders and cronies in government circle are rather manipulating fuel costs at this critical time when other governments across the world are seeking ways to mitigate the economic hardship being faced by their citizens.
The PDP therefore rejected the April 1, 2020 tweaking of fuel price from N125 to N123.5 as against the appropriate N90 per liter canvassed by Nigerians.
A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan said that the Party holds that any price beyond N80 to N90 is completely unacceptable, stressing that it amounts to fleecing Nigerians.
The party berated the APC administration for attempting to delude Nigerians by tweaking the cost decimals to create a misleading impression of price reduction while fleecing the unsuspecting public.
The PDP therefore challenges the APC and its administration to explain how they arrived at the pump price of N123.5 instead of the appropriate price of N90 per liter despite the fall in international price.
The PDP challenged the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to disprove Nigerians by immediately publishing the full prevailing landing cost, the prevailing 3% depot cost, the 3% trucking cost as well as the retail outlet admin cost and show why the pump price should be above N90 per liter.
In the words of the PDP; “Our party maintains that since Nigerians earlier had to bear the brunt of high cost of fuel in the face of high oil prices in the international market, it is only fair that they also enjoy the benefits of the cut in international prices; an advantage the APC had continued to deny them.
“The PDP invites Nigerians to note how the APC and its leaders had remained silent and failed to support the demand for reduction of fuel price; a development that only points to apparent complicity in this sleazy scheme against our citizens.”
The Party therefore charged the APC and its administration to immediately reduce the pump price to the appropriate price of N90 as well as refund the accruable, so far, from the N35 per liter difference and channel same to provision of palliatives to Nigerians.
The PDP also challenged the APC to join the PDP and other well-meaning Nigerians in its persistent demand that President Buhari orders the recovery of over N14 trillion oil money stolen by APC leaders in the last four years including the stolen N9trillion detailed in the leaked NNPC memo, and redirect same to the welfare of Nigerians.
Furthermore, the PDP reiterates its demand for the establishment of Eminent Nigerians Group to manage donations towards mitigating the impact of COVID-19 and ensure that the palliatives get to venerable Nigerians without any political and bureaucratic bottlenecks
