AS Nigerians celebrate Christmas lamenting over poor economy and fuel crisis,
presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abuba-kar, has promised that they will not spend the next Christmas queueing for petrol if they vote for him in February.
Atiku said this in his Christmas message signed by his Special Assistant on
Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, on Christmas Eve, noting that the All Progressives Congress (APC administration has “set a new record of the longest petrol scarcity in the history of Nigeria.”
The former vice president said voting for the APC in February would be a rein- forcement of failure and could push Nigeria further into an existential crisis.
The Waziri Adamawa, who said the APC is seek- ing a third term through Senator Bola Tinubu, told Nigerians to reject the rul- ing party, saying “To Nige- rians, we say the ability to change your destiny lies in your hands.”
He noted that the cur- rent fuel scarcity started in January this year with oc- casional reliefs and a series of excuses ranging from the importation of dirty fuel from Belgium to flooding in some parts of the country, among others.
“Recall that the petrol scarcity started in Janu- ary 2022 on account of the importation of dirty pet- rol high in methanol. The Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petro- leum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, ex- plained at the time that the petrol was brought in from Belgium.
“The House of Represen- tatives led by Femi Gbajabi- amila, opened a probe into the matter but nothing has been heard about the in- vestigation till date. This is not surprising since it is an APC affair.
“Based on estimates from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, the media reported that NNPC may have spent about N201 billion worth of clean petrol to clean the 170.25 million litres of dirty petrol. Still, no one was sacked for bringing the country to its knees.
“With the fuel scarcity now continuing till Decem- ber, the government has run out of excuses even as most Nigerians are now at the mercy of black market- ers who sell petrol as high as N500 per litre. The NNPC which is the sole importer of petrol has failed to live up to its duties, clear evi- dence that its privatisation is merely cosmetic.
“But the biggest culprit in this mess is President Muhammadu Buhari who is the Minister of Petroleum. It is saddening that he has failed to bring succour to Nigerians who are suffering from the worsening infla- tion, unemployment and insecurity.
“It is disheartening that a country that claims to spend $40m daily on petrol subsidy cannot still make the product available to its people. This is clear evi- dence that the money is going into private pockets ahead of elections at the expense of Nigerians.
“The APC, which is run- ning for a third term through the person of Bola Tinubu, is now promising renewed hope after dash- ing the hopes of millions ofNigerians for the last eight years.
“It is exasperating that Tinubu is promising to re- move fuel subsidy when his party has retained it for the last seven years and spent billions of dol- lars subsidising criminal- ity. It is obvious that Ti- nubu’s statement is an indictment on Buhari.
“Nigerians have suffered too much in these last sev- en years. A country which has been unable to meet its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota at a time of oil boom is now witnessing an un- precedented petrol scarcity that has brought economic activities to their knees across the country.
