Politics

APC Berates FG over Lingering Fuel Scarcity

The All Progressive Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCPCO) has on Monday described as disheartening the level of continued suffering by Nigerians due to the worsening fuel supply situation in Nigeria and failure of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration under President Goodluck Jonathan to address the ugly situation in the country. Deputy Director General of the APC Campaign Organisation, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora said this during a press conference at the campaign organization organisation’s headquarters in Abuja. Senator Mamora said across the country, except Lagos and Abuja where fuel scarcity has eased off, due largely to the huge presence of the media and very active Civil Society, the situation in other parts of Nigeria has been that of pains, anguish and frustration as Nigerians struggle daily to buy fuel at Fuel Stations.

 

He noted that social and economic activities in most part of Northern Nigeria, South East and South-South have become almost paralyzed from available reports, as fuel scarcity bites harder and stronger. “It is very disheartening to see the level of suffering by fellow Nigerians caused ostensibly by the continuing failure of the PDP administration in the country under President Goodluck Jonathan. This is against the 93 promises made to our countrymen and women when he was seeking our votes in the 2011 elections,” the deputy campaign DG said. Mamora maintained that “We have called this press conference today to draw attention to the worsening fuel supply situation in the country and other sundry matters”. He recalled that “at some point, they blamed our party, the All Progressive Congress for the fuel scarcity.

 

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC came out afterwards to tell Nigerians the actual reason for this unfortunate development was due to non-payment of about N250b subsidy claims to the Major importers coupled with the unstable foreign exchange rates”. According to him, motorists and other citizens are paying through their noses to buy above official pump price of N87, a price reduction recently hurriedly announced in an attempt to deceive Nigerians for electoral purpose.

 

He further recalled that at the height of the scarcity of fuel three weeks ago,” this government that has failed Nigerians in the last six years turned giving excuses and trading blames for its apparent failures”.  He stated that from the reports his party gathered across the states in Nigeria, a litre of petrol is sold in Aba at N110, in Benin it is sold at N150, Uyo a litre is sold at NNPC Mega Station at N97 while other privately-owned fuel stations were selling at N110 per litre. Senator Mamora further stated that, “In Kaduna and Northern states the scarcity is biting harder as petrol is selling above N120 with long queues. In Port Harcourt and South Eastern States a litre of Petrol sells between N130 and N150 just as it is selling above N100 in Ado-Ekiti and Akure.

 

This is the sorry state of our country today. A major crude oil producing country depends on massive importation of refined petroleum products to meet local consumption”.  “It is very instructive to state that Kerosene despite the heavy annual subsidy of over N1trillion is not selling at the regulated price of N50/litre and the poor masses who depend on this essential product are buying across Nigeria between N150 and N180/litre”. He said the government and its apologists gleefully trumpet that the Nigeria’s rebased economy is the biggest in Africa yet the economy is powered by generators saying “What an irony! Businesses are closing down because of the high cost of energy. Even with the fall in the global price of crude the pump price of diesel has remained as it was before.

 

This has defiled logic”. “Nigerians are asking question why our four refineries are not working at full capacity. They want to know why the country is the only crude oil producer in the world that is the biggest importer of refined products with the associated massive corruption that is feeding the greed of the leaders of the ruling party, the PDP”. “These are the issues in this campaign and they are the issues that affect our people. Rather than confronting these issues, the Jonathanians in their Buhariphobia continue to engage in campaign of calumny and hate propaganda against our presidential candidate and other leading lights in our party.

 

The APC and its Presidential Candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari is poised to tackle headlong these hydra headed socio-economic problems and give Nigerians a new lease of life”. Mamora declared that the PDP government has failed woefully to meet the yearnings of Nigerians for basic things of life, least of all, availability of petroleum products, with the associated industrial scale corruption; adding “as a country and a people we cannot continue in this wicked, destructive and very unsustainable path”. Declaring further the APC said “the time to save Nigeria and begin a process of rebuilding our country is now! Nigerians want the return of the good old days when we can meet our local refined petroleum products consumption and we could export refined products to other countries. Gen Buhari and Professor Yemi Osinbajo have promised to make this New Nigeria possible in our life time”

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Ihesiulo Grace

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