Nigerians would not spend 2023 Christmas queuing for petrol at filling stations, if they vote for him in February next year the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar said.
According
to report, the special assistant to Atiku on public communication, Phrank
Shaibu, made the promise in his Christmas message issued in Abuja on Christmas
Eve.
He said,
“Atiku Abubakar hereby promises Nigerians that this will be their last
Christmas that will be spent at a filling station queuing for petrol. Voting APC
in February will be a reinforcement of failure which could push Nigeria into an
existential crisis. To Nigerians, we say the ability to change your destiny
lies in your hands. Merry Christmas.
“With the
fuel scarcity now continuing till December, the government has run out of
excuses even as most Nigerians are now at the mercy of black marketers who sell
petrol as high as N500 per litre. The NNPC which is the sole importer of petrol
has failed to live up to its duties, clear evidence that its privatisation is
merely cosmetic.
“But the
biggest culprit in this mess is President Muhammadu Buhari who is the minister
of petroleum. It is saddening that he has failed to bring succour to Nigerians
who are suffering from the worsening inflation, unemployment and insecurity.
“It is
disheartening that a country that claims to spend $40m daily on petrol subsidy
cannot still make the product available to its people. This is clear evidence
that the monies are going into private pockets ahead of elections at the
expense of Nigerians.
“The APC
which is running for a third term through the person of Bola Ahmed Tinubu is now promising renewed
hope after dashing the hopes of millions of Nigerians for the last eight years.
“It is
exasperating that Tinubu is promising to remove petrol subsidy when his party
has retained it for the last seven years and spent billions of dollars
subsidising criminality. It is obvious that Tinubu’s statement is an indictment
on Buhari.
“Nigerians
have suffered too much in these last seven years . A country which has been
unable to meet its OPEC quota at a time of oil boom is now witnessing an
unprecedented petrol scarcity that has brought economic activities to its knees
across the country.”
He
continued, “The regime of the All Progressives Congress had set a new record of
the longest petrol scarcity in the history of Nigeria.
“The
petrol scarcity started in January 2022 on account of the importation of dirty
petrol high in methanol, with the
Group
Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, Mele
Kyari, explaining at the time that the petrol was brought in from Belgium.
“The House
of Representatives led by Femi Gbajabiamila, opened a probe into the matter but
nothing has been heard about the investigation till date. This is not
surprising since it is an APC affair.”
Based on
estimates from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory
Authority, the media reported that NNPC may have spent about N201 billion worth
of clean Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), to clean the 170.25 million litres of
dirty petrol.
After a
few weeks of respite, the petrol scarcity continued yet again in May as oil
marketers complained about the outstanding payment of bridging claims incurred
by dealers for the transportation of petroleum products across the country.
The NNPC
claimed the queues in Abuja and most parts of the North were caused by panic
buying.
The
scarcity stretched into September with the NNPC claiming that the floods in
Kogi and other states had prevented truck drivers from coming up north. In
November the government again claimed that the petrol scarcity was caused by
the road repairs in Lagos and the inability of truck drivers to move products
timely.
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