Nigerians, Osun Civil Societies Rejects N10 Fuel Pump Price Reduction

Reactions have continued to trail the reduction of the pump price of petroleum by the Federal Government from N97 to N87.
Many Nigerians saw the N10 reduction as political, as it was meant to canvass support for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan, saying that it was not done with genuine intensions.
Nigerians argued that if the reduction was done with the aim of objectively reducing petroleum pump price in line with the crash of crude oil prices in the international markets, the Federal Government would have put the price at N45.
They added that President Jonathan would not wait till election period before reducing the petrol pump price.
Similarly, a coalition of civil society groups in the State of Osun has rejected the N10 reduction in the petroleum pump price, describing it as ridiculous and meagre.
The Osun Civil Societies Coalition (OCSC) stated that the N10 reduction does not reflect the fallen price of crude oil in the global market, adding the new N87 pump price was still arbitrary and fraudulent.
According to the OCSC, the President Jonathan-led Federal Government was being insensitive to Nigerians’ plight and taking the people for granted if it could “ridiculously” take away just N10 from the pump price of petrol.
Chairman of the OCSC, Comrade Biodun Agboola, in a press statement made available to the medium on Sunday in Osogbo, said N10 reduction was politically-motivated, as it is not commensurate with the fallen crude oil prices in the global market.
Agboola said; “When crude oil was $119 per barrel, the Federal Government increased the petroleum pump price to N110. However, it was reduced to N97 following massive protest against the unjust and arbitrary hike in the pump price of petrol in 2012.
“Now that crude oil is $49 per barrel in the international market, the expected pump price reduction should have been between N35 to N40.
“We however, wondered why the Federal Government delayed the reduction in the petroleum pump price till the election period, when the crude oil price had crashed for almost five months in the global market.”
Agboola maintained that the Federal Government was still defrauding Nigerians with the N87 fuel pump price, adding that the new price further pronounced the brazen corruption and bad governance in the country.
THE NATION