OPC opposes fuel subsidy removal, urges Buhari to fulfill campaign promises

The Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) has condemned the expensive cost of fuel and gas, and demanded that pending when the nation’s four refineries would begin local production, President Muhammadu Buhari must halt any plan to remove fuel subsidy.

In a statement on Wednesday, OPC President, Otunba Wasiu Afolabi (popularly called “Askari”, warned that scrapping fuel subsidy without locally-produced fuel would further escalate inflation, endanger industries and increase the hardship Nigerians already suffered.

Additionally, the group urged the government to do the same for the soaring costs of cooking gas, residential kerosene, and aviation fuel.

“Many households and families are struggling because cooking gas and domestic kerosine are so expensive,” said Afolabi. They want the government to lessen their suffering by making sure that, for instance, the price of gas returns to a maximum of N256/kg rather than the present absurd price of N850/kg.

Afolabi bemoaned the fact that the price of diesel (AGO) has also increased dramatically, from N190 to N810, and that this has a severe impact on transportation and industries, leading to exorbitant costs for goods and services.

According to the OPC President, lower fuel would reduce inflation, restore the health of the devalued Naira and increase the purchasing power of citizens, with the overall boosting of the economy.

Afolabi urged President Muhammadu Buhari to oversee the renovation of the nation’s four refineries and promote the widespread construction of useful modular refineries, challenging the government to invest in domestic gasoline generation rather than importation.

The OPC President said: “What is happening today was not what General Muhammadu Buhari promised Nigerians when he was campaigning in 2014. His promise to change the fuel situation by revamping the four refineries was attractive to Nigerians who were dissatisfied with the high cost of imported fuel. Nigerians voted for change. Now the situation is even worse.

“How do you explain that Buhari called fuel subsidy of N306.92 billion a scam in 2015, but under him fuel subsidy rose to N1.43 trillion in 2021 and N4 trillion in 2022?

“By running the economy on imported fuel these past seven years, the Buhari government has sacrificed Nigerians to the unchained greediness of an evil cabal that has deliberately paralysed local refining. Clearly, no country will do well under such a system. Time has come to say, ‘Enough is Enough.’

“President Buhari, as the Minister of Petroleum, lacks any excuse to import petroleum products at all. Nigeria is an oil-producing country. Nigerians are blessed with petroleum resources and they deserve to enjoy the benefits of this God-given gift.”

Afolabi noted that the price of gasoline has jumped to N190 today from the N87 it cost at the pump when Buhari assumed office in 2015.

The organisation claimed that many OPEC nations were currently benefiting from the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and that people were turning away from Russian oil and gas in favour of alternatives. However, Nigeria, which was blessed with a sizable oil and gas reserve, continued to be impoverished despite this significant opportunity.