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The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, on Friday mocked the All Progressives Congress, saying the campaign by ruling party’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, to remove fuel subsidy is an indictment of President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Atiku stated this in his Christmas message to Nigerians even as he promised that next year’s Christmas would not be spent on queues at filling stations.
Amid calls for fuel subsidy removal has been intermittent fuel scarcity with Nigerians buying at different prices across the country.
The cost of fuel has oscillated between N179 and N220 at the various filling stations with black market prices ranging between N300 and N400 per liter.
This has affected transport cost with a 50% hike while some have witnessed a 100% jump.
Atiku however says next year affords Nigerians an opportunity to elect a president who would address the fuel supply challenge.
A statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, on Saturday evening quoted the former Vice President as declaring that “this will be their last Christmas that will be spent at a filling station queuing for petrol.”
He warned that, “Voting APC in February will be a reinforcement of failure which could push Nigeria into an existential crisis.
“To Nigerians, we say the ability to change your destiny lies in your hands. Merry Christmas,” the statement said.
Atiku stressed that, “With the fuel scarcity now continuing till December, the government has run out of excuses even as most Nigerians are now at the mercy of black marketers who sell petrol as high as N500 per litre.
“But the biggest culprit in this mess is President Muhammadu Buhari who is the minister of petroleum.
“It is saddening that he has failed to bring succour to Nigerians who are suffering from the worsening inflation, unemployment and insecurity,” Atiku stated.
He lamented that, “It is disheartening that a country that claims to spend $40m daily on petrol subsidy cannot still make the product available to its people.
“This is clear evidence that the monies are going into private pockets ahead of elections at the expense of Nigerians.
“The APC which is running for a third term through the person of Bola Ahmed Tinubu is now promising renewed hope after dashing the hopes of millions of Nigerians for the last eight years.
“It is exasperating that Tinubu is promising to remove petrol subsidy when his party has retained it for the last seven years and spent billions of dollars subsidising criminality. It is obvious that Tinubu’s statement is an indictment on Buhari,” he pointed out.
He added that, “Nigerians have suffered too much in these last seven years . A country which has been unable to meet its OPEC quota at a time of oil boom is now witnessing an unprecedented petrol scarcity that has brought economic activities to its knees across the country.”
According to Atiku, “The regime of the All Progressives Congress had set a new record of the longest petrol scarcity in the history of Nigeria.
“The petrol scarcity started in January 2022 on account of the importation of dirty petrol high in methanol, with the
Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, Mele Kyari, explaining at the time that, the petrol was brought in from Belgium.
“The House of Representatives led by Femi Gbajabiamila, opened a probe into the matter but nothing has been heard about the investigation till date. This is not surprising since it is an APC affair,” he stated.
