The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has called on the Federal Government to reverse the current pump price to N145 per litre as well as the electricity tariff or face a nationwide resistance.
Addressing a press conference in Kaduna on Friday after its emergency meeting, the National Publicity Secretary of the Coalition, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman maintained that the unfolding events around the national economy, security, general cost of survival in Nigeria in the past few days have once again sparked serious concerns over the direction the country is heading.
He noted that in particular, the recent announcement of the federal government’s decision to hike the prices of such essentials as petroleum products and electricity have ignited widespread discontent and anger across every segment of the Nigerian society.
He noted that concerned about this mounting national anger, the Coalition of Northern Groups, (CNG) met in Kaduna to review the alarming rise in the cost of living in the face of pervasive poverty and fast-spreading general insecurity of lives and property.
“The meeting was also to underscore the failure of public policies on the key pillars required for building a strong national economy, security, unity and survival, which have resulted in enormous hardship to vast segments of the Nigerian population.
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According to him, it was based on this that CNG observed that the administration’s audacious impunity climaxed with hikes in fuel pump prices from an initial N87 to N151.50k per litre; electricity tariff from N22 to N66; and Value Added Tax (VAT) to 7.5% from 5%.
He also observed, ‘that these unjustified and unjustifiably indiscriminate increases with concomitant effects on life-sustaining essentials like foodstuff and foreign exchange rates have resulted in an exponential escalation of inflation, despair, crime and criminality.
“From the inception of this administration, the cost of a bag of rice, for instance, had risen sharply to N28,000 from N8,500; a bag of maize to N21,000 from N3,000 and fertilizer to N12,000 from N2,500.
“Dollar exchange rate has risen to N480 from N195; ECA to $2.5bn from $72m; external debt to $27bn from $9.6bn.
“Crime and criminality; insurgency and banditry; armed robbery and kidnappings; rampant rapes and sexual abuses, smuggling and corruption; poverty, hunger and destitution; IDPs; unemployment and school dropouts have thus escalated to totally unacceptable proportions.
“External reserve; the value of human life, Naira value, International respect, citizens’ dignity, standards of education, health and life expectancy have fallen drastically.
To this end, the spokesman for the Coalition remarked that CNG hereby resolves to call on the federal government to announce an immediate and unconditional reversal of the prices of fuel to the earlier N145 per litre and electricity tariff to N23 with the assurance of regularity in quality and quantity of supply.
The Coalition directed all state chapters to mobilise other civil society and pressure groups in their states and address individual petitions demanding an immediate and unconditional review to their respective state governments or houses of assembly for transmission to the presidency.
“CNG national secretariat is to engage the National Assembly, the federal government and all relevant national and international agencies to force a reversal of these imposed harsh realities.
“Put the public on the alert for a possible prolonged nationwide resistance in the likely event of government opting to grandstand, CNG declared.
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