The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday told the Federal Government to perish the thoughts of hiking the price of fuel from the “already exorbitant” N145 per litre, saying such would not only be “criminal, but inhuman and completely unacceptable.”
The party said investigations have shown that the Federal Government has been lying to Nigerians on oil-related issues while using the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to bandy figures with intentions to arrive at government’’s predetermined agenda to increase the price of fuel.
The PDP further alleged that the lingering fuel crisis and its attendant black market costs were only “a ploy by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to justify their intended hike of petroleum prices.”
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement in Abuja on Friday, said the APC Government has “completely become numbed” to the suffering of Nigerians, to the extent that it no longer cares about “imposing more hardship on our people.”
He said instead of putting more burden on the people, the APC government should come out clear on the “sleaze in the oil sector” under its watch, particularly the “shady oil subsidy payouts and illegal lifting of N1.1trn worth of crude, using unregistered companies.”
Recalling that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had, in December, informed Nigerians that the NNPC has been paying subsidy on fuel, Ologbondiyan said the Federal Government has refused to tell Nigerians who the beneficiaries are, the amount involved and who authorised the payment, because of the inherent corruption in the deal.
He said, “Any increase in fuel pump price would be an indirect tax on Nigerians to fund APC interests and, considering the pains Nigerians have suffered under this … government, this intended hike will be callous.
“It is now clear to all that this APC-controlled government will never act in the interest of Nigerians. All the actions and policies of APC in their close to three years in office, have been targeted against Nigerians and there are no signals that they will change.
“We, therefore, urge Nigerians to reject this plot to raise the prices of petroleum products even as they gear towards using the next election to end the misrule of the APC.”
