Don’t think of fuel price hike now, PDP warns FG

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday warned the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government not to think of hiking the price of fuel from the “already exorbitant” N145 per litre, saying such would not only be criminal but inhuman and unacceptable.

In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP said investigations had shown that the Federal Government had been lying to Nigerians on oil-related issues.

The party alleged that the government had been using the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to bandy figures with the intention to arrive at APC’s predetermined agenda to increase the price of fuel.

It described the lingering fuel crisis and its attendant black-market costs as a ploy by the APC to “justify their intended hike of petroleum products prices.”

The PDP lamented that the APC government had “become numb to the sufferings of Nigerians to the extent that it no longer cares imposing more hardship on the people.”

The party said instead of putting more burden on the people, the APC government should come out on “sleazes” in the oil sector under its watch, particularly the “shady oil subsidy payouts and illegal lifting of N1.1 trillion worth of crude using unregistered companies.”

While recalling that the vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, had in December informed Nigerians that the NNPC had been paying subsidy on fuel, the PDP said the Federal Government had refused to tell Nigerians who the beneficiaries were, the amount involved and who authorised the payment because of the “inherent corruption” in the deal.

The party said: “Any increase in fuel pump price will be an indirect tax on Nigerians to fund APC interests and considering the pains Nigerians have suffered under this inept and unfeeling government, this intended hike would 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 we gear towards using the next election to end the misrule of the APC.”