The Pan Niger Delta Forum has said the latest increase in the price of petrol was an indication that Nigerians would continue to pay for government’s inefficiency.
PANDEF also faulted the claim of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, that fuel price would continue to rise whenever the price of crude oil increased.
The spokesman of the forum, Mr Ken Robinson, who spoke in an interview with The PUNCH on Wednesday, said it was sad and most unfortunate that Nigeria could no longer refine its crude oil.
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Robinson argued that the minister’s statement that fuel price would always go up whenever the price of crude oil rose would not have made any meaning if the Nigerian government had ensured that the refineries were in good shape.
He said, “So it’s high time Nigerians looked at these issues and collectively call on the government to make changes. How long will it take us to continue to import petroleum products?
“It is sad and disheartening that Nigerians would continue to pay for the inefficiency and the failures of the government. It is sad; it is criminal and most unfortunate that we can’t refine a product in the country.
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“If we are refining our crude locally, some of these stories won’t come and the assertion that so long as crude oil prices go up, fuel prices will go up is ridiculous.”
Robinson added, “When the crude oil price was down, did the fuel pump price go down as expected? No, but they are quick to increase when crude oil prices go up.
“It’s insensitive, very insensitive. You say you have deregulated the system; so, why are we buying petrol at the same pump price as it is in Kaduna and Sokoto?
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“We sell crude and import refined products. It is sad that we are doing this to our country because some few people are benefitting from the rot.”
He added that the nation’s corrupt system enable people perpetrate unjust actions against the country for the private benefit of a few.
The Punch
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