The chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ife Central Local Government chapter, Prince Falabi Nurudeen has berated federal government and Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited over sudden hike in Premium Motor Spirit popularly known as petrol.
Reacting to the sudden pump price adjustment, the chairman said the situation had led to an astronomical increase in the prices of food, saying the increase in the pump price will lower the people’s real disposable income, adding that the economy will contract in terms of growth.
Falabi, in a statement released by his media office, noted that the increment, if not well managed, could lead to an increase in the prices of goods and services with consequential effects on the purchasing power of the already impoverished Nigerian.
The statement said the inflation rate in the country is high at 22.22 per cent as recorded, the increase in the pump price of fuel will further accelerate inflation, which will distort and destabilize economic activities, shrink private sector business capital and lower the real disposable income of the people.
He said there is a need for systematic and strategic removal of the subsidy to avoid impoverishing Nigerians further, adding that it would worsen the already bad socio-economic indicators such as employment, poverty per capital income and many more.
The statement said it was worrisome that prices of various commodities have skyrocketed a few hours after the President’s pronouncement on subsidy removal.
The statement reads in part; “Though, the consequences of the new fuel price were predictable. There will be pain. It was known that there would be pain if we removed the subsidy. That pain will be there for a while. It depends on how much federal government does to reduce the period of severe pain.
“The PDP had predicted that Bola Tinubu would continue with the policies of Muhammadu Buhari, which are policies of pain, anguish, sorrow, suffering, disregard for human lives and insensitivity.
“The increment in the pump price by NNPCL is inhuman. A price hike from N195 to N537. This is almost a 400 per cent increase. There would be more taxes, more pain. The government needs to engage the people on policy that is going to affect them”, the statement noted.
The chairman blamed the President for the crisis which he said was caused by his utterance on the subsidy removal, stressing that the inauguration day was not the proper time to make such a statement.
He added that federal government should have provided a leeway by making provisions to cushion the effect on the masses. The marketers are Shylocks, they still had fuel in their tanks before the pronouncement, why the sudden 500 per cent increment? The government did not mean well at all.
The statement further added that the fuel pump price increase announced by the NNPCL, it is about a 200per cent increase, stressing that there is a need for other measures, including food price control to give Nigerians a cushion from the harsh realities of the effects of the market-driven petrol pump price.
