The Oodua People’s Congress has denounced the high cost of fuel and gas and asked that President Muhammadu Buhari, halt any plans to eliminate fuel subsidies until the country’s four refineries start producing locally.
In a statement released on Wednesday, OPC President Otunba Wasiu Afolabi, also known as Askari, made the group’s request. The OPC’s Frederick Fasehun faction is led by Askari.
He cautioned that eliminating fuel subsidies in the absence of petroleum supplied domestically would cause inflation to soar even higher, jeopardize industry, and exacerbate the hardships already experienced by Nigerians.
Additionally, OPC urged that the government do the same to control the soaring costs of residential kerosene, cooking gas, and jet fuel.
Afolabi said: “Many households and families are suffering due to the high cost of cooking gas and domestic kerosine. They want the government to alleviate their sufferings by ensuring that the price of gas, for example, returns to N256/kg at most, instead of the current astronomical price of N850/kg.”
Afolabi bemoaned the fact that the cost of diesel has also increased dramatically, from N190 to N810, and claimed that this has a negative impact on transportation and industry, leading to excessive costs for goods and services.
According to the OPC president, reduced fuel costs will improve the economy overall by lowering inflation, reviving the depreciated Naira, and enhancing citizen purchasing power.
Afolabi urged Buhari to oversee the renovation of the nation’s four refineries and promote the widespread construction of useful modular refineries, challenging the government to engage in domestic fuel generation rather than imports.
“What is happening today was not what General Muhammadu Buhari promised Nigerians when he was campaigning in 2014. His promise to change the fuel situation by revamping the four refineries was attractive to Nigerians who were dissatisfied with the high cost of imported fuel. Nigerians voted for change. Now the situation is even worse.
“How do you explain that Buhari called fuel subsidy of N306.92 billion a scam in 2015, but under him fuel subsidy rose to N1.43 trillion in 2021 and N4 trillion in 2022?
“By running the economy on imported fuel these past seven years, the Buhari government has sacrificed Nigerians to the unchained greediness of an evil cabal that has deliberately paralysed local refining. Clearly, no country will do well under such a system. Time has come to say, ‘Enough is Enough.’
“President Buhari, as the Minister of Petroleum, lacks any excuse to import petroleum products at all. Nigeria is an oil-producing country. Nigerians are blessed with petroleum resources and they deserve to enjoy the benefits of this God-given gift.”
Afolabi noted that the price of gasoline has jumped to N190 today from the N87 it cost at the pump when Buhari assumed office in 2015.
The high cost of aviation fuel was also criticized by OPC, who claimed that it had increased the price of airline tickets and made flying expensive, unpleasant, and terrifying.
Afolabi said: “It is unreasonable that just a few months back aviation fuel sold for N190 and today it has increased to N880. Yet the government allows the situation to continue, without doing anything to bring this alarming situation under control. This is unacceptable.”
