A group, Citizens For Righteousness and Social Justice, Imo State chapter, on Sunday threatened to lead Nigerians in a nationwide protest if President Muhammadu Buhari led government refuses to use its relevant agencies to get the petroleum marketers to revert petroleum products to the old and approved pump prices in 14 days.
The Chairman, Bishop Kenneth Obi, who stated this in a release made available to newsmen in Owerri, Imo State capital, said, unfortunately, the increase in the products has consequently affected adversely the prices of goods and services in the nation.
“The disheartening aspect of it is not that bad leadership has negatively affected the country’s economy but that nobody is speaking out either for the fear of being killed or intimidated by those who are behind our woes in the society.
“It is no longer news that factors including high exchange rate have caused inflation in Nigeria, the sudden increase in the prices of petroleum products has worsened the whole situation; stemming from the fact that almost all sectors of the economy depend on the use of petroleum products to produce goods or render meaningful services to the society.
“For instance, fuel has risen to N240 per litre against the government approved pump price of N165. Diesel now costs more than N550 per litre, same as kerosene and Liquefied Petroleum Gas which are three times higher than what they used to be a few years ago.
“A bag of rice which was once sold below N800 is now N38,000. The transportation sector is also affected as people now pay through their nose, to embark on journeys.
“Sadly enough, the hardest hit by this ugly development are the people considered as ordinary Nigerians; whose wages or salaries have not experienced the necessary upgrade.
“Of course, financially well to do individuals and highly placed government officials can afford petroleum products at whatever prices they are pegged which is why they rarely come out to speak for the masses.
“Recently the Federal Government imported bad fuel into the country which created an avenue for marketers to hoard the product; thereby creating an artificial scarcity which consequently skyrocketed the price even above N800. The situation which occurred in February last month has lingered with the price of fuel seemed not to be going down below N220 per litre.
” And it is crystal clear that the Federal Government has regulatory agencies like Petroleum Products Price Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) bestowed with the authority to ensure that petroleum marketers sell the products at the approved price.
“The question now is ‘does the failure of the government to get the marketers to sell at their approved price of N165 per litre entails that they have used the importation of bad fuel as a way to further increase the price of the product?
“If the answer is in the affirmative, then the Federal Government should open up to us (citizens) and provide palliative measures to cushion the effect of the accompanying hardship.
“But if the answer is ‘No’ the government should urgently prevail on the marketers to come down to the normal and approved price since the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has made persistent claims that they have enough product to serve Nigerians.”
