The Conference Of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has reacted to the recent hike in pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol.
CNPP, in a statement signed by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Comrade James Ezema, and forwarded to newsmen on Wednesday, said that the increment less than 60 days after “the Federal Government announced the removal of subsidy is a fresh pointer that the All Progressives Congress (APC) government has never been sincere with Nigerians on the subsidy issue.”
The political parties also backed the House of Representatives’ move “to investigate the overnight destruction of a vessel with stolen Nigerian crude oil recently without investigation or prosecution of the culprits.
“In the last eight years, Nigerians have been subjected to misery as a result of the incessant increment in the pump price of petrol,” the statement read in part.
“Even after the said removal of subsidy on petrol, the Muhammadu Buhari administration continued to increase the pump price of petrol at will under the guise of fuel subsidy removal without adequate cushioning palliatives, leading to untold hardships Nigerians have continued to endure.
“Again, the APC government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday, 29 May, 2023, scrapped the already removed subsidy announced by the Buhari administration in 2016. This, again, came with attendant food prices hikes.
“The continued increment of the pump price of petrol without any attempt to build refineries for local refining of petroleum products is unacceptable by Nigerians and a further evidence of insincerity on the part of the federal government, particularly the so called messianic APC administrations.”