The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday rejected the Federal Government’s decision to further reduce the ex-depot price of fuel from N125 to N108 a litre
The opposition party insisted on a new pricing template that will accommodate a pump price of between N60 to N70 per litre to reflect the crash in the price of crude oil and petroleum products in the international market.
In a statement by the national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Thursday, the party said the N108 ex-depot price was fraudulent and a far cry from the appropriate pump price template that should not exceed N70
given the prevailing situation in the international oil market.
The PDP noted that “the N108 ex-depot price with a projected additional
N9 per liter Expected Open Market price is therefore completely
unacceptable to Nigerians.
“Moreover, the Federal Government has continued to shroud the indices and parameters it is using in determining domestic prices of petroleum
products in secrecy. Such parameters obviously cannot be in tandem with
the appropriate situation in the global industry.
The PDP alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led federal
government had continued to shortchange unsuspecting Nigerians since the
beginning of the year by refusing to end “its corrupt interference and
allow market forces to determine pump price of fuel to reflect current
global prices.”
The statement further said, “Our party insists that the Federal Government has no reason to continue to fleece Nigerians particularly in the face of worsening economic crisis occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic which it had also failed to effectively handle.
“The PDP demands that the APC Federal Government should immediately
reduce both the ex-depot and pump price as well as surrender the billions
of naira accruable as overcharge from the inappropriate fuel pricing
since the crash in crude oil price and channel the funds as palliatives
to Nigerians.
“The party charges the NNPC not to waste further time in addressing
Nigerians on its confession of sleazy and over-bloated oil subsidy
regime in the last five years which included a hazy under-recovery for
unnamed West African countries, running into trillions of naira.
“Indeed, Nigerians must not continued to be fleeced with high fuel prices
while stolen subsidy and accruable overcharges are looted by a few
individuals operating as a cabal in the APC-led administration.”
