Civil Rights Advocacy Group on the aegis of Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure the continuous implementation of the naira-to-crude-deal between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other Indigenous refineries.
It stressed that any change in the arrangement would certainly result in sudden and indiscriminate hikes in the pump prices of petroleum products, transportation, goods and services and inflation.
A statement by Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, National Coordinator of HURIWA, appealed to President Tinubu to in the spirit of the Sallah celebrations and supplications to God marking the end of the fasting and lenting period, direct his coordinating minister for the economy and Finance to transparently and rapidly reach agreement to continue the naira-to-crude-deal with local crude oil refineries including the Dangote Petroleum refinery.
HURIWA said; “We make this public supplication and appeal because any alteration to this deal would mean excruciating hardships and the massive affliction of poverty on millions of the already suffering, struggling and multidimensionally poor households.
“Political leadership is not about theatrics or empty rhetorics but leadership ought to be embedded in the virtues of compassion, care for humanity and implementation of economic policies with humane face.
“It is only when the interests of the greatest percentage of the citizens are satisfied that a central or regional governments can be assessed to have kept faith with the constitutionally guaranteed principles of transparency, accountability and promotion of the public good.
“The security and welfare of the citizenry is the primary lawful duty of government,” it stressed.
HURIWA said that based on its assessment of the public perception of the failure to keep the implementation of the naira-to-crude deal, many Nigerians would be thrown out of work given that the operational costs of running small and medium scale businesses that depend of privately generated electricity power supply which come basically from petrol powered generators, would shut down businesses and eventual sack of thousands of private sector workers.
It also said that even citizens working with federal agencies and state governments, would be in severe difficulties to meet up with the anticipated hikes in transportation and costs of living as a result of upward adjustments in the prices of petroleum products and the persistent poor salaries that the public sector workers earned.
HURIWA affirmed that there is a general climate of public anxiety not only in the downstream of the oil and gas sector as operators await the decision of the Federal Government on the naira-for-crude deal between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
The Rights group argued that the most affected segment of the society are the over 133 million multidimensionally poor households going by the old 2018 statistical data released by the National Bureau of Statistics and therefore reminded President Tinubu of last year’s World Bank projected in which several millions of Nigerians became multidimensionally poorer than they were in 2018 because of the excruciating costs of living crisis in Nigeria.
HURIWA noted that the six-month naira-to-crude-deal, which started in October 2024, officially ends today, Monday, March 31, 2025, adding that the extension of the deal or complete halt is still being discussed by the parties involved.
It further said; “However, it was gathered on Sunday that the committee responsible for the negotiations has yet to resolve on the matter. As this lingers, the effect is now felt in the pump prices of refined petroleum products”.
HURIWA said that Petrol has increased from about N860/litre to over N930/litre within one week, saying that dealers blamed the hike on the failure of the Federal Government to extend the naira-for-crude deal between the NNPCL and Dangote refinery.
“Our marketers also projected further hike in petrol price. They said the cost may hit N1,000/litre in weeks if nothing is done about the naira-for-crude deal that earlier helped in checking the rise in petrol prices,” it said.
HURIWA therefore advocated humane and compassionate governance from President Tinubu, emphasising that his administration’s draconian and toxic anti-poor economic policies have thrown millions of people into destitution, mass hunger, unemployment, and economic depression.
In the words of HURIWA; “These unfortunate situations are exactly what a government elected by all Nigerians should strive by every means humanly possible to eradicate.
“The ball is now in the court of president Tinubu’s government not to ignore the expanding frontiers of mass poverty that any further hike in the pump price of petrol would bring unto millions of Nigerians already overstretched households.
“It would be hypocritical that President Tinubu and high profile public office holders were shown on public media of mass communication praying to God for protection, only for these publicly ‘praying’ leaders to churn out poverty-stricken and poverty inducing economic policies on Nigerians,” it said.
