Fuel price hike: Buhari has lost control – HURIWA

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has said the uncertainty in the pump price of petrol is an indication that “President Muhammadu Buhari has lost control.”

HURIWA made the remark while condemning the “ever pervasive climate of apprehension, anxiety and uncertainty” on petrol pump price.

The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, had on Thursday fixed the pump price of fuel at N212.61 per litre for the month of March.

But, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation had countered the PPPRA, stressing that there was no increase in depot price of Premium Motor Spirit in March.

However, the rights group warned that the uncertainty in fuel price was an invitation to anarchy that could trigger a massive scale of poverty, economic downturn and the oppression of Nigeria’s downtrodden.

The Rights group said this in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko and National Media Affairs Director, Miss Zainab Yusuf.

HURIWA expressed disappointment that two agencies under the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources which is headed by Buhari could be “at each other’s throats over the exact pump price of petrol, just as major dealers of the product have now become like shylock and lawless entrepreneurs who decide when to sell or when to hoard the product just so they can maximise profits at the detriment of the over 100 million absolutely poor Nigerians.”

According to HURIWA: “It is inconceivable that the petroleum sector which the President himself supervises as the senior minister can not provide clarity and certainty regarding the stability and affordability of petrol which remains critical to the economic survival of the masses and Corporate entities.

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“It is regrettable too that at a time most countries are introducing innovative replacements for Petrol and diesel so as to protect the environment and the biodiversity, Nigeria still operates with the mindset of the 18th century because of the gross incompetence of the political class who have hijacked Nigeria.”