Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, has condemned the recent surge in petrol prices as “unfortunate and insensitive.”
Obi shared his thoughts in a statement titled “Reversing the Sudden Fuel Price Increase,” posted on his X.com account on Saturday.
On Wednesday, the national oil company’s stations raised the retail price of petrol from N897 to N1,030 per litre across various NNPCL locations in the FCT.
This new price, marking the second increase within a month, reflects a 14.8 percent or N133 rise.
Obi argued that the rise in fuel prices has severe repercussions for Nigeria’s economic stability and the well-being of its citizens.
He emphasized that reversing this sudden price hike depends on the actions of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, 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.
