PDP rejects government N123.5 petrol price, insists on N90/litre

Top opposition party in Nigeria, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the government’s April 1 tweaking of fuel price from N125 to N123.5, insisting instead that the price be reduced to N90 per liter.

In a statement by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the opposition party argued that the reduction of pump price by N1.50k is offensive, fraudulent; a further display of cruelty and insensitivity of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the plight of Nigerians, particularly as the nation battles the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The PDP insisted that the correct pump price of fuel is between N80 to N90 per liter, given the slump in the price of fuel and crude oil in the international market.

The PDP held that any price beyond that is completely unacceptable, as it amount to fleecing Nigerians.

The party berated the APC administration for “attempting to delude Nigerians by tweaking the cost decimals to create a misleading impression of price reduction while fleecing the unsuspecting public”.

The PDP challenged the APC and its administration to explain how they arrived at the pump price of N123.5 instead of N90 per liter despite the fall in international price.

The PDP asked the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to disprove its claim by immediately publishing the full prevailing landing cost, the prevailing 3% depot cost, the 3% trucking cost as well as the retail outlet admin cost and show why the pump price should be above N90 per liter.

According to the PDP, Nigerians earlier had to bear the brunt of high cost of fuel in the face of high oil prices in the international market, thus it is only fair that they also enjoy the benefits of the cut in international prices.

The PDP charged the government to immediately reduce the pump price to N90 as well as refund the accrual, so far, from the N35 per liter difference and channel same to provision of palliatives to Nigerians.

Furthermore, the PDP reiterates its demand for the establishment of Eminent Nigerians Group to manage donations towards mitigating the impact of COVID-19 and ensure that the palliatives get to venerable Nigerians without any political and bureaucratic bottlenecks