PDP wants government to fix fuel price at N70

Legislative chamber regrets overdependence on oil

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the Federal Government to immediately reduce the pump price of fuel to N70 per litre to reflect the current reality prompted by the fall in the price of crude oil at the international market.

The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said it completely rejects the N121 per litre price announced by the Federal Government, describing it as highly provocative and a further “display of the insensitivity of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the plight of Nigerians, particularly as they battle the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The main opposition party insisted that a N121 pump price amounts to “fleecing Nigerians of over N50 per litre of fuel.”“This is in continuation of the N55 per litre overcharge, which Nigerians had borne under the inappropriate N125 per litre, which prevailed for months, before it was brought down to N123.5 per litre in spite of the crash in international price of crude oil,” it added.

The political grouping rejected what it called the “unnecessary price pinching” demanding that the central government should, without further delay, “implement the appropriate price as well as declare and account for the billions of naira accruable as overcharge since the crash in crude oil price.”

In a related development, the House of Representatives has regretted the over-dependence of petro dollars as the mainstay of the nation’s economy.
Consequently, it advised the relevant authorities to make adequate plans for a post-oil economy in Nigeria.The resolution followed the adoption of a motion moved by Abass Adigun at the plenary chaired by Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila.