The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the federal government’s reduction of the pump price of petrol from N125 to N123.5, Politics Nigeria reports.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the main opposition party said the appropriate price Nigerians wanted is N90 per litre.
The PDP said any price beyond that is completely rejected and unacceptable to Nigerians.
It added that it further displays the cruelty and insensitivity of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the plight of the citizens amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
The statement read: “It indeed smacks of heartlessness that the APC, its leaders and cronies in the government circle are rather manipulating fuel costs at this critical time when other governments across the world are seeking ways to mitigate the economic hardship being faced by their citizens.
“Our party maintains that since Nigerians earlier had to bear the brunt of high cost of fuel in the face of high oil prices in the international market, it is only fair that they also enjoy the benefits of the cut in international price, an advantage the APC had continued to deny them.
“We urged Nigerians to note how the APC and its leaders had remained silent and failed to support the demand for reduction of fuel price, a development that only points to apparent complicity in this sleazy scheme against the citizens.
“We charge the APC and its administration to immediately reduce the pump price to the appropriate price of N90 as well as refund the accruable so far from the N35 per litre difference and channel the same to the provision of palliatives to Nigerians.
“Our party also challenges the APC to join the PDP and other well-meaning Nigerians in our persistent demand that President Buhari orders the recovery of over N14 trillion oil money stolen by APC leaders in the last four years, including the stolen N9 trillion detailed in the leaked NNPC memo, and redirect same to the welfare of Nigerians.
“Furthermore, we reiterated its demand for the establishment of Eminent Nigerians Group to manage donations towards mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 and ensure that the palliatives get to vulnerable Nigerians without any political and bureaucratic bottlenecks.”
