The Peoples Democratic Party has accused the Federal Government of providing cover for shoddy oil deals allegedly involving the All Progressives Congress’ interests.
The allegation, contained in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, stated that “This APC government is not only grossly incompetent and corrupt, but also a champion in the use of lies and manipulations against innocent and unsuspecting citizens.
“We all know that it was convenient for the APC Presidency to promise Nigerians that it will no longer import fuel only because the PDP government had already laid the foundation including the revamping of the refineries and ensuring a domestic production of five million litres out of the 25 million litres daily domestic consumption.
“Sadly, this incompetent APC government, in its almost three years, has not added one litre to the five million litres, which the PDP administration was producing.
“Instead of improvement, the APC has wrecked the system and now pushing the nation to depend solely on importation, while engaging in heavy sleazes in hidden subsidy regimes.”
It alleged that the Federal Government, in its bid to cover its ineptitude and oil subsidy corruption, announced that it was the NNPC and not Nigeria that paid for fuel subsidy.
“The question is: who owns the NNPC? Is it not Nigeria? Can the NNPC spend a kobo without the authorisation of the Presidency? Has President Muhammadu Buhari ceased to be the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Minister of Petroleum Resources?
“Moreover, if the NNPC, which is under his purview, has been paying fuel subsidy, who authorised the payment and who are the beneficiaries? Nigerians need to know the truth on this subsidy regime.
“We therefore challenge the APC-led Federal Government to come clean on these issues and stop telling lies to Nigerians who have suffered enough under its deceptive, inept, uncoordinated and wicked regime.”
Ologbondiyan urged Nigerians not to be forlorn, adding that it had repositioned to stand with the people in the inevitable mission to rescue and restore the nation to the path of prosperity come 2019.
Contrary to the notion that the APC government has scrapped fuel subsidy, the administration is in fact paying itself about N1.4 billion daily for importing fuel through the NNPC. The corporation’s Group Managing Director, Maikanti Baru, recently confirmed that a N26 subsidy was being paid on every litre imported.
The landing cost of petrol into the country stands at N171 per litre, as against the N145 retail price. Considering that the country’s daily consumption moved from an estimated 35 million litres per day to about 52 million litres, it would mean a total of about N1.4 billion is currently being paid to the exclusive importer.
When the Federal Government scrapped subsidy about two years ago and ushered in a regime of partial deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry, the expectation was that private importers and market forces would have a freehand. The government, through the NNPC, however has been the sole importer and price modulator.
The weakness of the naira against the dollar and increasing price of crude oil on the international stage are compounding the fuel crisis in Nigeria, creating an unsustainable market. And with NNPC’s monopoly and the challenge of accessing foreign exchange, private importers have been forced out.
Despite the fact that the government is faced with the reality of growing prices of refined products at the international market, the current administration might be maintaining the current pump price for political expediency. Crude oil price currently stands at about $65 per barrel. On the eve of subsidy removal, it was around $40 while the exchange rate hovered slightly around N200 to $1. Today, the rate is almost double.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had justified the removal of the subsidy, saying: “The CBN simply did not have enough. (In April, oil earnings dipped to $550 million. The amount required for fuel importation alone is about $225 million!)”
Experts, including the President of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), Abiodun Adesanya, insisted the administration has worsened the plight of Nigerians by pegging the foreign exchange rate and the pump price of petrol.
Adesanya said the Buhari administration made two mistakes. First, it did not allow foreign exchange to flow. “The second is that the petrol subsidy should have been totally removed. What is making subsidy come back is primarily because of foreign exchange and increasing crude oil price.
“I am not surprised at the current situation. The quicker they let go, the better for us. Then, competition would come and ordinary Nigerians would become beneficiaries. Anything else will not work,” said Adesanya.