•wants govt to device means to cushion the effects of subsidy removal
The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has asked Nigerians to hold independent oil marketers responsible for the current high price of fuel.
CNG expressed concern that barely 12 hours after President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of subsidy on fuel, the oil marketers hiked the price of the product.
CNG also warned the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) not to use the present high cost of fuel to embark on any action that will not be in the interest of the masses and instead turn out to be self-serving.
In a statement signed by the Spokesperson of CNG, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, the Coalition said it observed that the NLC would deceive the public into believing they are protecting their interests, only to betray the course, negotiate with the government at the expense of the suffering masses.
The CNG said there are cases in the past where the NLC will call for protest or strike action, but would later meet the government and the authorities, negotiate with them and then call off the industrial action.
“Now that NLC wants to take the nation for granted once more, we demand that it should, first of all, explain its whereabouts at the time the budget was prepared, presented, defended by the government of the former president Muhammadu Buhari and passed by the 9th National Assembly without the provision for subsidy.
“Otherwise, it will be the peak of self-delusion to think they can hoodwink the public once again into embarking on yet another futile exercise that in the end only benefits the leadership of the NLC who almost all the time sellout every struggle no matter how popular at the slightest of personal offers from the government.
“We emphatically warn the NLC to note that it can never again take anybody for its usual ride, having stripped itself of every strand of credibility, public trust and confidence,” CNG said
The CNG also expressed surprise by what it described as the desperation of the Independent oil marketers who are quick to hike the fuel pump prices by almost five hundred per cent within just 12 hours of the announcement of the subsidy removal.
“This quick hike and desperation to hoard the commodity is aimed at stocking anger against the new administration by the few who benefit from the trillions of the subsidy sum among the marketers and NNPCL officials.
“Having come this far, the CNG feels dutybound to alert the Nigerian public to guard against being dragged into a flight without knowing its actual destination.
“The public should note that by its antecedents of betraying public confidence, the NLC has lost every claim to competence to speak for or act on behalf of the generality of the people beyond servicing the interest of a limited constituency of less than one per cent of the total population of Nigerians.
“We call on the public to hold the Independent oil marketers responsible for the sudden deterioration of the prices of Petroleum a few hours after the announcement by the government on the subsidy.”
The CNG, however, called on the new administration of President Bola Tinubu to handle the dicey situation with utmost wisdom and compassion so that the innocent public is not made a victim.
“We call the attention of the Tinubu administration to be vigilant over the latent trap set for it with the subsidy issue by the outgone government aiming to set it on a collision course with the public early in the day.
“We therefore advise the government to deploy maximum wisdom, and caution to chart a workable means of dealing with the bad situation deliberately thrown on its laps in such a way that no one gets hurt.
“Government should devise compassionate ways of cushioning the impact of the subsidy removal without necessarily compromising its economic recovery policies.
“We demand from the Federal Government action to call the syndicate that has siphoned the trillions of naira of public funds during the previous regime in the name of a fictitious, fraudulent oil subsidy to account.
“We call on the Federal Government not to be distracted by the antics of discredited self-serving labour leaders, unscrupulous oil marketers and a few unpatriotic officials of the NNPCL who would seize every opportunity to undermine its good intentions,” CNG added.
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