Sam Ohuabunwa, a former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant, has slammed President Muhammadu Buhari over his inability to deregulate and enforce price control in the Nigerian oil and gas sector as both the President and Minister of Petroleum Resources.
Ohuabunwa, who is also a former president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), in a statement on Sunday, said the Federal Government was only paying lip service to issues around the oil sector while making a “deceitful and disingenious announcement that payment of subsidy will end in June when the lifespan of this regime will come to an end.”
“Directly or indirectly, officially or unofficially, it is clear that the cap on the pump price of petrol has been removed. All over Nigeria, for a few months now, the price of petrol has varied from one filling station to the other,” Ohuabunwa lamented over the current fuel scarcity and the attendant high price of the product.
“As of January 6, prices ranged from a minimum of N240 per litre in Benin, N340 in Kaduna, N360 in Umuahia, N400 per litre in Owerri to N500 per litre in Port Harcourt.
“No filling station is selling at the so-called controlled price, except in some filling stations in Abuja and Lagos. And nobody is enforcing any price as used to happen in the past. So it is clear we have deregulated. That’s fine!
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“I think the Government should own up and announce this policy officially.
It is deceitful and disingenious for this Government to announce that payment of Subsidy will end in June when they would have ended their regime. Why wait? Why make such a deceitful proposition? Who will enforce the plan, Buhari/oil minister or the new President?
“I urge the government to come clean and level up with the citizens instead of this deceit and hanky-panky game with our commonwealth and citizen wellbeing.
“By announcing the deregulation now, which is already a fiat accomplice, Nigerians will attain the following benefits:
“First, official deregulation will mean, that many more companies and oil marketers can import fuel under the supervision of the Regulatory agency, thus immediately easing the scarcity and ending the double jeopardy of many motorists and road users.
“For months now many motorists spend hours and in some cases, days and nights trying to buy the product at inflated prices
“President Buhari should bite this bullet and save Nigerians from multiple jeopardies, which they are facing right now,” he said.
