A coalition of youth groups in the 19 Northern States under the aegis of Arewa Youth Ambassadors (AYA), has weighed in on Federal Government’s supply of crude oil to Dangote Petroleum Refinery (DPR).
The group’s secretary, Muktar Abdurrahman Auwal, in a briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration not to sell crude oil to DPR in dollars but naira.
“Selling crude oil to DPR in foreign currency is going to be counterproductive as far as the Nigerian masses are concerned. The vulnerability of the naira due to foreign exchange has caused an untold hardship to the majority of Nigerians.
“Inflation has remained high largely due to higher cost of fuel. Thus, the price of goods and services today has prevented the common man from enjoying the dividend of democracy in Nigeria.
“The Nigerian government therefore must take an extraordinary measure to stabilize the economy and make life easy for the millions of Nigerians who are poor and vulnerable.
“Making fossil fuel available in Nigeria using the 650,000 barrel per day production capacity of the DPR is not enough to bring down the cost of food and other essential commodities for the survival of Nigerians. However, lower petroleum products cost will surely bring back smiles and happiness to Nigerians,” the group averred.
