The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rejects an increase in the pump price of fuel to N170 per liter by the All Progressives Congress (APC) government, describing it as wicked, unbearable, and unacceptable, particularly given the prevailing excruciating economic crunch already foisted on Nigerians by the Buhari administration.
The party insists that this increase in the pump price will worsen the already suffocating economic situation in the country.
“Such a hike will also be an additional log tied on the economic neck of Nigerians,” the PDP stated in a communique on Friday.
The party held that the APC and its administration have no justification to increase the cost of fuel to anything above N100 per liter talk less of N170 when there are practical options to maintain affordable price given our production capacity and potentialities.
“It is evident that the continuous increase in the pump price of fuel under opaque and nebulous indices is a product of incompetence and large scale corruption being perpetrated by a few individuals in the Buhari administration, who are bent on fleecing Nigerians and holding our nation to ransom.
“Our party notes that the APC administration has failed to come clean on the parameters being used for the hike in prices vis-a-vis our production, export and accruing revenue.
“Indeed, the APC administration is not being honest with Nigerians regarding the status and volume of oil production, sales, and accruing revenue.
“This is in addition to its failure to fix our refineries and end crude oil theft, allegedly to aid APC interests.
“This appears to provide answers to why the APC administration has failed to offer any explanation on huge fraud going on in the management of our nation’s oil resources including the alleged stealing over N9.6 trillion ($25 billion) by APC interests, as detailed in the leaked NNPC memo.
“It has also failed to publish details of its sleazy oil subsidy regime, including the involvement of APC interests in the claimed under-recovery for unnamed West African countries, running into trillions of naira, while Nigerians are made to bear the burden of high fuel costs.
“Such humongous fraud in the management of our oil resources is responsible for the high costs and unspeakable hardship being suffered by millions of Nigerians who can barely afford their meals and basic necessities of life,” the communique partly read.
The party urged President Buhari to end the corruption and the “stealing of Nigeria’s oil resource under his watch by APC leaders”, recover the looted resources and immediately reverse this increase in the price of fuel.
PDP also urged President Buhari to take steps to fulfill his promise to revamp the refineries or accept his failures and apologize to Nigerians.
“It is still not yet late for him to get more competent hands to run our oil sector instead of imposing more hardship on Nigerians,” the PDP stated through its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan.