The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said its presidential candidate, Mr. Atiku Abubakar will revert the pump price of petrol from N145 to N87 if elected president in 2019.
In a statement on Thursday by its national publicity secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP said with the current price template of oil in the international market “there is no justification to keep the price of fuel at N145 per litre and watch Nigerians groan under the weight of high prices “while a cabal at the presidency loot the funds meant to subsidise the products.
“Atiku Abubakar has worked out a pricing template that will immediately crash the pump price of fuel in the country since the president Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government…has failed to do the needful in the last three years.”
The party said it rejected the proposed increase of the official prices of diesel and kerosene stating that “such will bring more economic pressure on the already impoverished nation as most businesses and homes across the country heavily depend on these products for sustenance.”
Ologbondiyan also disclosed that the party had been in high level talks with top international players in the oil and gas industry adding that the engagement had shown that the appropriate pump price of fuel in the Nigerian market under the current subsidy regime should be within the borders of N87 to N90 per litre as against the n145 currently being charged.
The party alleged that for every N145 paid for a litre of fuel a “cabal diverts a hidden N58 which Nigerians have continued to pay since the fuel price was increased from N87 to presumably subsidised cost of N145”
“Apart from failing to account for the over N1.4 trillion allegedly siphoned through sleazy oil subsidy deals, the Buhari-led federal government is burdened to account for the over N3.49 trillion stolen under the hidden N58 per litre of fuel on over 50 million daily domestic consumption estimated in the last three years.
“The PDP notes that had the Buhari administration heeded wise counsel to be transparent in its dealings in governance and to engage more experienced hands on petroleum issues, the nation would not have been in the dire straits we face today.
Nevertheless, the PDP urged Nigerians not to despair as “Atiku Abubakar has already worked out a blueprint that will end sleazes, ensure appropriate pricing template and free resources to guarantee availability of product on a national pricing regime.”
