-Deborah Akinyosoye
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Mr Peter Obi described the recent hike in the price of petrol products as “unfortunate and insensitive”.
Obi made this known in a statement he titled “Reversing the Sudden Fuel Price Increase”, on his X.com account, on Saturday.
Reports has it that transportation costs skyrocketed in the Federal Capital Territory following the hike in the price of petrol by some stations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in Abuja on Wednesday.
The stations of the national oil company raised the retail price of petrol to N1,030 from N897 per litre across multiple NNPCL stations in the FCT.
The new price, the second increase in one month, represents a 14.8 per cent or N133 rise.
According to Obi, the increase in fuel prices has far-reaching negative consequences for the current Nigerian economic survival and well-being of Nigerians.
He stated that reversing the sudden price hike relies on the hands of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri and President Bola Tinubu.
The statement reads, “As Nigerians continue to groan under extremely difficult economic conditions, largely caused by the Federal Government’s wrong policy choices, the NNPCL has once again raised the price of fuel without providing any explanation. This is both unfortunate and insensitive, considering the wide-ranging negative consequences for our economic survival and well-being.
“This is neither how an economy’s resources should be managed nor how a nation should be governed. In this new measure, there is neither sound economics nor necessary compassion. We are told that the NNPCL is now a limited liability company, regulated by agencies such as the NUPRC and NMDPRA, yet there seems to be growing confusion about the roles and responsibilities of the NNPCL and these regulating bodies.
“Interestingly, both the NNPCL and the regulatory agencies are supposed to be under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, with the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria serving as the substantive Minister. Who, in this arrangement, is regulating who? With the unprecedented but avoidable hardship that Nigerians are enduring, the responsibility for providing a full explanation, offering alternative options, and most importantly, reversing the sudden price hike falls squarely on the Honorable Minister of Petroleum Resources/President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We hope and pray that he acts in the best interest of the majority of Nigerians, who are living under unnecessarily precarious conditions, and that he does so before his return from his working vacation. To casually inflict such a draconian measure on the populace from the comfort of an annual vacation amounts to taking the people’s welfare lightly and for granted. A new and more compassionate Nigeria is indeed Possible.”
Recall that following the hike, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, condemned the fuel pump price increase by NNPC, noting that a registered private company should not dictate fuel prices for Nigerians.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria also threatened to stop operations nationwide following the high cost of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, sold to IPMAN members by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
IPMAN revealed on Thursday that the cost of petrol from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to NNPC was about N898/litre, but noted that NNPC was selling the same product to independent marketers at N1,010/litre in Lagos.
