The Federal Government has been urged to halt renewed efforts being made to further hike the pump price of petrol that could send more Nigerians to their early graves.
The Group General Manager (GMD) of the National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, had, on Thursday, during the weekly presidential ministerial media briefing held at the presidential villa, Abuja, disclosed that fuel pump price would soon sell above N200 per litre.
But People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Chieftain in Delta State, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, in a statement, on Friday in Warri, described the planned pump hike as extremely outrageous and a ploy to further strangle Nigerians.
Kyari had insisted that the new price was being contemplated because the corporation could no longer sustain the monthly subsidy of N120 billion ($263,248 million) in dispensing the product at the current rate, adding that sooner or later Nigerians, would have to pay the actual cost for the commodity.
While describing the planned increase of fuel pump price from N167 to over N200 as outrageous, Onuesoke disclosed that available findings had shown that the average Nigerian has made up their minds not to believe the government on the ‘latent good’ removal of the subsidy can bring.
He added that with the subsidy in place, the country has 33 per cent unemployment figure with a high inflation figure for February 2021 which is the highest in the history of the country.
“Inflation rate in Nigeria is already high enough and they want to increase fuel price again meaning another round of hike in transportation which will affect food prices, goods and other services. How many times will fuel price increase before this President Buhari leaves office?” he queried.
He pointed out that with the removal of the total subsidy, the rate of unemployment and poverty that will follow it will spiral, thereby resulting in the increase of criminality and other kinds of vices that will do the country no good.
The PDP Chieftain argued that Nigerians were yet to come to terms with Muhammadu Buhari’s government which promised reduction of fuel pump price from N87 to N45 during the 2015 Presidential campaign but had increased fuel pump price astronomically for four times within five years without creating any economical soft landing to cushion the effects.
“In 2015 Buhari’s led APC government increased fuel pump price from N87 to N145, 2019 from N145 to N162, 2020 from N162-124 and 2020 from N124-N162.
“Now his government is contemplating increasing it from N162 to N200 and above all on the excuse of an increase in crude oil prices and deregulation. By the time crude oil starts selling for 100 USD, we should be prepared to buy fuel for 500 Naira per litre.
“This eventually will ultimately ruin the remaining purchasing power Nigerians have left,” he lamented.
The entrepreneur advised the government to think of other areas of boosting the economy of the country instead of total dependence on oil which increase in crude price at the international market has become a nemesis instead of a blessing to Nigerians.
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