Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, has criticized President Bola Tinubu for allowing a fuel price hike while on vacation in Europe, calling the move “draconian.”
On Wednesday, October 9, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited increased the price of premium motor spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, across its retail outlets. The price adjustment occurred while President Tinubu was away on his annual leave.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Obi expressed his concern for the welfare of Nigerians, urging the President to act in the best interest of the citizens before his return. He said many Nigerians are “living under unnecessarily precarious conditions.”
The statement read;
“This is neither how an economy’s resources should be managed nor how a nation should be governed. In this new measure, there is neither sound economics nor necessary compassion.
“We are told that the NNPCL is now a limited liability company, regulated by agencies such as the NUPRC and NMDPRA, yet there seems to be growing confusion about the roles and responsibilities of the NNPCL and these regulating bodies.
“Interestingly, both the NNPCL and the regulatory agencies are supposed to be under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, with the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria serving as the substantive Minister.
Who, in this arrangement, is regulating who?”
Obi further emphasized that the responsibility for explaining the price hike and offering alternatives rests with the President, who also serves as Minister of Petroleum Resources. He stated:
“With the unprecedented but avoidable hardship that Nigerians are enduring, the responsibility for providing a full explanation, offering alternative options, and most importantly, reversing the sudden price hike falls squarely on the Honorable Minister of Petroleum Resources/President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
“To casually inflict such a draconian measure on the populace from the comfort of an annual vacation amounts to taking the people’s welfare lightly and for granted.”