LAGOS—DEPUTY Minority Whip of the Senate, Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi has condemned the Federal Government on its refusal to revert to the old fuel pump prices and has therefore supported the strike action called by labour and civil society groups which commenced yesterday.
In a statement in Lagos, Senator Afikuyomi said the defiant stance of the federal government on the fuel price hike only portrays the ruling class as those without the genuine interest of the masses”. He described the strike as a step in the right direction aimed at expressing Nigerians’ total rejection of what has been generally seen as an”oppressive and despotic policy” of the ruling People’s Democratic Party.
This increase has been rejected by the National Assembly - both Senate and the House. It has been rejected by several eminent Nigerians, including state governors. So why is it that it is only the Federal government that has refused to see reason? It is not in the interest of the government to continue to give the impression that it is pursuing an agenda only favourable to a selected group in power”, he said.
The senator frowned at a section of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) Act, which forbade any government agency from having a say in the price regulatory role of the PPPRA, except Obasanjo. “It is most disturbing that the PDP-led federal government had watched independent marketers of petroleum products jack up the prices of petroleum products to as much as N55.OO under the deregulation exercise of the government without regards for the feelings and conditions of the Nigerian people as if the marketers are an alternative government in Nigeria.
What has happened to President Obasanjo’s promise that by the month of May 2004, the nation’s refineries would have resumed work if the down stream sector of the oil sector is deregulated? Mr. President certainly has some explanations to offer Nigerians”, Afikuyomi added.
He described the position of the Obasanjo administration as an abdication of duty and a display of gross irresponsibility, saying, “Nigerians did not vote for the PPPRA neither did they vote for the independent marketers. So a government that cannot defend the interest of its citizen have no business remaining in office. It will be a mere waste of tax payers’ money to continue feeding a government that has handed over the interest of the suffering masses to some dubious independent marketers and their collaborators in government.”
Afikuyomi however cautioned Nigerians against any act of violence that could derail the on-going democratic process. “Our opposition must be directed at the PDP- led administration and not the democratic process. The PDP administration and not the NLC is the real threat to Nigeria’s democracy. It is the PDP administration that has declared war on Nigerians and not the NLC and the Civil Society,” Afikuyomi said.
He however advised the PDP led government to see reasons by adjusting the prices of petroleum products downwards to the old N42.0O per litre as demanded by the Senate, NLC and the Civil Society.
