By Stephen Godonu
The Ekiti State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has said that the All Progressives Congress(APC) government of President Muhammadu Buhari is worse than the military government with the brazen manner it jacked up the price of petroleum without consideration for poor Nigerians.
The party’s factional Chairman in Ekiti, Hon. Bisi Kolawole, said the action was an eye-opener for Nigerians to vote for the PDP in the 2023 election to put a halt to the maladministration and sufferings being inflicted on them by the APC government.
But the APC through its State Publicity Secretary, Hon. Ade Ajayi, said the PDP was not competent to brand the ruling party as being militaristic, saying Buhari has been devising ways to clear the mess left by 16 years of PDP’s misrule in the country.
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The federal government had on Wednesday jacked up the pump price from N150 to N152, which propelled the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) to direct its members to start selling petrol for N162 per litre across the nation.
Kolawole, who responded via the party’s State Publicity Secretary, Raphael Adeyanju, in Ado Ekiti, on Wednesday, described the action coming during the COVID-19 crisis as “wicked, inhuman and militaristic in nature”.
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The PDP leader said it was only a government that is sadistic and thinks less of its citizens’ welfare that would bring such a harsh policy under a debilitating economy caused by coronavirus pandemic.
“This is an eye-opener for all Nigerians that the APC government was a mistake. It should be voted out in 2023, because no power is greater than the will of the people.
“It was sad that President Buhari could contemplate this when other nations were giving stimulus packages to private organizations and palliatives to their citizens, this failed APC government was inflicting hardship on the populace.
“In 2014 when the former President Goodluck Jonathan increased the pump price from N65 to N100, the APC members engineered protests across Nigeria calling that government a failure. But if that was a failure, how would Nigerians describe this?”.
Kolawole advised Nigerians that only a change of government can restore normalcy to Nigerians and not protests as being suggested in some quarters.
“In my humble opinion, I don’t want Nigerians to protest, because the APC government is capable of anything. I don’t want them to be killed on the streets, but let them wait till 2023 and vote them out, that is the best way out”.
But the APC spokesman, Ade Ajayi, urged Nigerians not to listen to the vituperation from the opposition, saying the party was ignorant of how petrol economy is run.
“The PDP was only acting and basing its criticisms on ignorance. The petrol prices are not determined by government solely, it’s by market’s demand and supply forces.
“About three months ago, the prices of petrol products went down and a litre was sold for between N120 and N100 naira. That was determined by market forces and I know the price will come down soon, all we need is patience.
“This government is trying to clear the mess left by the PDP government and gradually we could see the gains. So, the PDP should stop this shameful act, because Nigerians won’t listen to its noise”.
