Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, on Wednesday condemned the increment of the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) known as petrol from N86.50 to N145, saying the action “shows that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government deceived Nigerians during the 2015 general elections”.
Also, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State describing the action as insensitive and a demonstration of the level of
hatred the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government has for Nigerians.
National Co-ordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Otunba Gani Adams, described the increment as ‘senseless’.
Fayose, who said the over 70 per cent increment was another
vindication of his predictions on what to expect in 2016, added that it was now clear that the scarcity of petrol being experienced in the last three months was deliberately orchestrated by the federal government to pave the way for the already-conceived increment.
According to his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said: “Nigerians are now left at the mercy of political liars who took over power by deception and are governing by deceit”.
He said he was waiting for the reaction of those who took to the streets to protest when fuel subsidy was removed by the the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2012, urging labour unions in the country to stand by their members always, not minding the political party in government.
He said: “When they were seeking for votes from Nigerians, they promised to reduce petrol pump price from N87 to N45 per litre. They promised to create three million jobs per year, they said $1 will be equal to N1 and above all, they promised to pay unemployed youths N5,000 stipend and provide one meal a day to pupils nationwide.
“Instead of fulfilling their promises, they have increased petrol pump price to N145 per litre, increased electricity tariffs, retrenched thousands of workers and imposed untold hardships on Nigerians.
“As they did in 2012, if labour leaders do not also stand up for the people at this time, posterity will not forgive them.”
National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, described the increment as nothing but a fuel tax to fund the 2016 Budget.
He said: “In a deregulated sector, there should not be PPPRA. Marketers should get their oil and sell. As long as the government determines the price of petrol, it is clear deception. What is happening now is a continuation of what former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, did in 1986.
“What the Buhari administration has done now with this increment will have multiply effect. It will affect food, transport, education, health, house rent and others. There is no rationale for it at all”.
Adams said: “What the Federal Government has done is an indication that Nigerians were deceived in 2015. They just lied to send Goodluck Jonathan away. What they have done does not make economic sense at all. This is a period that there is no light, prices of foodstuffs are going up. Now, increment in price of fuel. Why?”
Factional President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, said on Wednesday that removing subsidy without fulfilling the agreement reached with unions was nothing but a betrayal
“We do not in any way support full deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector.
Earlier, the Federal Government had announced the new pump price to N145 per litre.
This is contained in a statement by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Ibe Kachikwu, and read to State House Correspondents in Abuja.
The Minister said the decision was taken at the end of a stakeholders meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
According to the statement, any Nigerian is free to import the product and sell at a price not above N145 per litre.
“In order to increase and stabilise the supply of the product, any Nigerian entity is now free to import the product subject to existing quality specifications and other guidelines issued by Regulatory Agencies.
“All oil marketers will be allowed to import PMS on the basis of FOREX procured from secondary sources and accordingly PPPRA template will reflect this in the pricing of the product.
“Pursuant to this, PPPRA has informed me that it will be announcing a new price band effective today, 11th May, 2016 and that the new price for PMS will not be above N145 per litre,’’ the minister said.
He said the government expected that the new policy would “lead to improved supply and competition and eventually drive down pump prices, as we have experienced with diesel.
“In addition, this will also lead to increased product availability and encourage investments in refineries and other parts of the downstream sector.
“It will also prevent diversion of petroleum products and set a stable environment for the downstream sector in Nigeria.’’
Kachikwu said that the government shared the pains of Nigerians but, “the inherited difficulties of the past and the challenges of the current times imply that we must take difficult decisions on these sorts of critical national issues’’.
He said that along with the decision, the federal government had in the 2016 budget made an unprecedented social protection provisions to cushion the current challenges.
“We believe in the long term, that improved supply and competition will drive down prices.
“The DPR and PPPRA have been mandated to ensure strict regulatory compliance including dealing decisively with anyone involved in hoarding petroleum products,’’ the minister added.
The minister said that the stakeholders’ meeting had reviewed the current fuel scarcity and supply difficulties in the country and the exhorbitant prices being paid by Nigerians for the product.
He said that the meeting observed that prices ranged on the average from N150 to N250 per litre.
He said the meeting also noted that the main reason for the current problem “is the inability of importers of petroleum products to source foreign exchange at the official rate’’.
According to him, this is due to the massive decline of foreign exchange earnings of the federal government.
He said that as a result, private marketers were unable to meet their approximate 50 per cent portion of total national supply of PMS.
He said that following a detailed presentation by him, it “has now become obvious that the only option and course of action now open to the government is to take the decisions’’.
Kachikwu said the meeting had in attendance the leadership of the Senate, House of Representatives, Governors Forum, and Labour Unions .
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) said in Abuja that the new price regime had taken effect from Wednesday.
The NNPC, however, advised its retail stations on the outskirts of major cities to sell at prices lower than N145 per litre.
In a statement, the agency said that “this review became imperative in the face of extreme difficulties faced by petroleum product importers in sourcing foreign exchange“.
The agency said that to meet the consumption demand of the nation, importers will henceforth be permitted to source for their foreign exchange requirements from the secondary sources.
“PPPRA is conscious of the difficulties that Nigerians have been going through in the last few months and to ameliorate this situation we shall continue to modulate pricing in accordance with prevailing market dynamics thereby ensuring fair value to all citizens,” it said.
Mr Obafemi Olawore, the Executive Secretary of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), said that his association supported the move, saying it was the right step to liberate the downstream sector.
“It is a step towards deregulation. At MOMAN, we support full deregulation,” he said.
