By Fola James
The refusal of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to crash the pump price of petrol to N90 signals continuous plans to aggravate the sufferings of Nigerians despite the economic hardship caused by the ravaging corona virus pandemic, the opposition PDP has said,
The PDP has also urged the administration to account for over N23 trillion allegedly stolen from the oil sector in the last four years and end corruption in the sector to prove to Nigerians its readiness to fight corruption.
“Our party also challenges the APC to join the PDP and other well-meaning Nigerians in our persistent demand that President Buhari orders the recovery of over N14 trillion oil money stolen by APC leaders in the last four years including the stolen N9trillion detailed in the leaked NNPC memo, and redirect same to the welfare of Nigerians,” the PDP said in a statement on Thursday.
The party made the suggestion after the federal government directed oil marketers in the country to reduce petrol pump price to N123.5.
The federal government had last month reduced the price of the commodity to N125 from N145 to reflect the realities of crude oil price at the international market.
A barrel of crude has flopped to all time low of $19 per barrel and analysts say it’s likely to slide further due to less demand for the product.
Crude oil price has been hit by shut down in major world economics such as USA, UK, France and others.
Major oil marketers in the country have threatened to go on strike if price is reduced further and indicated they will not sell at a further reduced price, but the PDP said the price of petrol in Nigeria should not be more than N90.
“It indeed smacks of heartlessness that the APC, its leaders and cronies in government circle are rather manipulating fuel costs at this critical time when other governments across the world are seeking ways to mitigate the economic hardship being faced by their citizens,” PDP said.
The party stated that “since Nigerians earlier had to bear the brunt of high cost of fuel in the face of high oil prices in the international market, it is only fair that they also enjoy the benefits of the cut in international prices; an advantage the APC had continued to deny them.”
According to the party, the country has experienced more corruption in the nation’s oil sector under the APC-led government.
This should not be allowed to continue, the party said, adding that those involved in the alleged multi-billion naira corruption must be exposed and punished.
Meanwhile, investigations by the magazine indicates that major oil supply producers have reduced the price of petrol and other crude oil based products to alleviate the sufferings of their citizens.
