By Ishaya Ibrahim
Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has knocked President Bola Tinubu on the latest petrol price hike, accusing him of casually inflicting hardship on Nigerians from the comfort of his vacation.
Tinubu, who is currently on a two-week vacation touring London and France, urged the President to immediately order the reversal of the fuel price hike because it has inflicted serious hardship on Nigerians.
Obi lamented that Nigerians have become casualties of the wrong policy choices of the government, wondering why the NNPCL would raise the price of fuel (PMS) without providing any explanation.
According to Obi, “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.”
Obi said there is neither sound economics nor necessary compassion in the new measure.
He said: “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!”