The main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has condemned the rise in fuel prices to over N1,000 per litre nationwide, calling it a severe assault on the sensibilities of Nigerians.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited raised the pump price of fuel from N617 to N897 per liter yesterday, a move that has faced widespread condemnation from Nigerians.
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PDP said the increase, especially at this time, “is a huge recipe for crisis as Nigerians cannot bear its worsening effect on the suffocating economic hardship which they currently face under the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led APC administration.”
Debo Ologunagba, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, expressed in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja that the “secretive and corrupt management of the petroleum sector, coupled with the ongoing fuel price hikes under the Tinubu administration, disregards the welfare of the people and effectively challenges Nigerians to respond in kind.”
“The APC administration has consistently shown itself to be anti-people, unconcerned and deaf to the agonies of millions of Nigerians who can no longer afford their daily meals, medications and basic support for families due to the catastrophic high cost of living occasioned by the insensitive and reckless policies of the Tinubu administration.”
The party said under the present administration, “over 150 million Nigerians have sunk below poverty line, businesses are collapsing daily as the Naira now exchange for over N1,600 to a Dollar with over 34% inflation rate and over 40% unemployment rate which are expected to rise further with the latest draconian increase in the price of fuel.
“There is practically no hope in sight under the current APC government policies as major multi-national companies continue to exit our country in droves in the face of ill-conceived and ill-implemented macro-economic policies.
“The admission by the APC-led Federal Government that it has handed the fate of Nigerians to oil racketeers in the name of free market economy further validates the position of the PDP that the Tinubu-led administration has abdicated the primary purpose of government; which is to provide for the welfare and security of the citizens.
“President Tinubu is the Minister of Petroleum Resources and cannot exonerate his government and officials from the secretive and fraudulent management of the petroleum sector which is fast pushing our nation’s economy to the precipice.”
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The PDP said, “APC has now become an enabler of a cabal of corrupt APC rent-seekers who apparently derive pleasure in inflicting pains on Nigerians while hugely benefiting from the proceeds of incessant increase in fuel price to satisfy and fund their luxury appetite and consumption.
“With the hopeless state of affairs of our nation today, our Party wonders what President Tinubu, during his numerous trips abroad, says to his foreign counterparts in nations where leaders prioritize the welfare of their people!”
The party reiterates that “with a deft, transparent, and innovative management of resources, economic potential, comparative advantage, and national refining capacity, petrol prices in Nigeria should not exceed N250 per liter.”
“The PDP calls on President Tinubu to save the country from further socio-economic dislocation by immediately reversing the latest provocative increase in fuel price and revisit all life-discounting and suffocating policies of the APC government.”
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