Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The recent reduction in the pump price of premium motor spirit, otherwise called petrol, by the Federal Government, is commendable but not yet uhuru, Arewa Consultative Forum, has said.
Uhuru is a Swahili word for freedom.
Chairman, Arewa Consultative Forum, Southern Nigeria, Alhaji Musa Saidu, said the reduction of fuel price from N145 to N125 was not enough, following the prevailing economic situation in the country.
Saidu, who spoke exclusively with our correspondent in Port Harcourt, appealed to **the Federal Government to further bring down the price of fuel to at most N100 per litre, in order to cushion the economic hardship facing the masses.
According to him, “The reduction in the pump price of fuel is a welcome development, but not yet uhuru.
“Reduction from N145 to N125 when the masses are still suffering is not enough, they should still reduce the price to at lest N100 per litre, due to the prevailing economic situation in the country.
Saidu who is also the Special Assistant to the National President of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Elder Chinedu Okonkwo, regretted that the issue of insecurity pervading the country was a result of unemployment.
He said President Muhammadu Buhari, when he came into office in 2015, had increased the pump price of PMS from N87 to N145, with the assurance that he would improve the nation’s economy.
He advocated that since the economy has not been improved, there was no need for Nigerians to keep buying fuel at an exorbitant price of N145 per litre.
“The banditry and insecurity pervading the country today is as a result of unemployment, occasioned by the economic situation in the country.
“So the pump price of fuel at N125 is not enough, it should be reduced to N100 to cushion the hardship in the country.
“Because President Muhammadu Buhari promised to improve the economy, when he increased fuel price from N87 to N145, but that has not been done. So the price should be reduced.”
