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Immediate past Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose has said
the federal government must perish the idea of increasing the pump
price of petrol from N145 per litre to N185 in March next year, saying
“Nigerians have suffered enough in the hands of the APC government and
won’t accept any further upward review of petrol pump price.”
The former governor, who described the planned increment as a way of
taking back of whatever that is added to workers salary as minimum
wage increment, said; “They are delaying the increment till March
because of its effects on the February 2019 elections.”
Media Aide to the former governor, Lere Olayinka said in a statement
on Monday that the NNPC presentation to the Senate last week that N145
fuel pump price was unrealistic and that the pump price of petrol was
supposed to be N185 per litre as against the official price of N145
per litre was a way to prepare the minds of Nigerians for the planned
increment.
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr. Maikanti Baru had told
Senate Ad-hoc Committee set up to investigate allegation that the
Corporation created a fund to finance fuel subsidy without
appropriation by the National Assembly that the NNPC set aside $1.05
billion to augment the differential between the landing cost of
imported fuel and the pump price of N145 per litre. He said landing
cost of petrol was N185 per litre, pointing out that the N40 gap was
being filled with the $1.05 billion Support Fund.
Reacting, Fayose, who said the NNPC must explain to Nigerians where it
derived powers to spend $1.05 billion (over N350 billion) from crude
oil sales to subsidise petrol, noted that it was unexplainable for any
agency of the federal government to spend revenue belonging to the
entire country without first remitting the fund into the federation
account.
The former governor said it was uncharitable for anyone to draw
comparison between the pump price of petrol in West African countries
with that of Nigeria without considering cost of living in those
countries and whether or not they are oil producing like Nigeria.
He said “smuggling is an outdated excuse for increasing petrol pump
price, it will no longer be accepted by Nigerians.
“Nigerians are suffering. Millions of jobs have been lost and even
many of those still employed are not gainfully employed. The federal
government must not add to the burden of the suffering masses by
increasing the pump price of petrol as being planned.”
