PDP Kicks Against N108 Ex-depot Fuel Price, Insists On N70 Pump Price

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has rejected the new ex-depot price of N108 per litre of the Premium Motor Spirit insisting on a new pricing template that must accommodate a pump price of between N60 to N70 per litre to reflect the crash in the price of crude oil and petroleum products in the international market.

The party described the N108 ex-depot price as fraudulent and a far cry from the appropriate pump price template that should not exceed N70 given the prevailing situation in the international oil market.

In a statement issued by the national publicity secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP maintained that the N108 ex-depot price with a projected additional N9 per litre Expected Open Market “completely unacceptable to Nigerians.”

The statement read: “The federal government has continued to shroud the indices and parameters it is using in determining domestic prices of petroleum products in secrecy. Such parameters obviously cannot be in tandem with the appropriate situation in the global industry.

“The PDP laments that the All Progressives Congress, APC-led federal government has continued to shortchange unsuspecting Nigerians since the beginning of the year by refusing to end its corrupt interferences and allow market forces to determine pump price of fuel to reflect current global prices.

“Our party insists that the federal government has no reason to continue to fleece Nigerians particularly in the face of worsening economic crisis occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic which it had also failed to effectively handle.

“The PDP demands that the APC federal government should immediately reduce both the ex-depot and pump price as well as surrender the billion of naira accruable as overcharge from the inappropriate fuel pricing since the crash in crude oil price and channel the funds as palliatives to Nigerians.

“The party charges the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, not to waste further time in addressing Nigerians on its confession of sleazy and over-bloated oil subsidy regime in the last five years which included a hazy under-recovery for unnamed West African countries, running into trillions of naira.

“Indeed, Nigerians must not continue to be fleeced with high fuel prices while stolen subsidy and accruable overcharges are looted by a few individuals operating as a cabal in the APC-led administration.”

Meanwhile, the party, Thursday, prayed for the speedy recovery of Chief Raymond Dokpesi, a chieftain of the PDP, who last week tested positive alongside seven members of the family to the coronavirus.

“The PDP prays for the speedy recovery of all Nigerians battling the coronavirus disease, which is currently ravaging the world.

“The party stated this while offering prayers for the founder of Daar Communication, (owners of the African Independent Television, AIT and Raypower FM), High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, and members of his family who had tested positive to the coronavirus and are now receiving care in an isolation center.

“The PDP notes the commendable role of the media at this critical time, particularly in sensitizing Nigerians on health safety, social distancing, and personal hygiene protocols in the overall effort to check the spread of the pandemic in our country,” a statement signed by its spokesman read in part.