The #EndBadGovernance movement, Lagos State, has condemned the latest increment in petrol prices by the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.
The movement described it as “provocative and vexatious,” adding it was a further slap on the faces of poor and struggling Nigerians.
In a statement on Thursday jointly signed by Hassan Taiwo Soweto, Osugba Blessing, Oloye Adegboyega-Adeniji for the Organising Committee, #Endbadgovernance Movement, the group called for immediate and unconstitutional reversal of the petrol price, while urging Nigerians to brace up for a protest against the administration.
Titled “Latest Fuel Price Hike Shows President Tinubu Is Not Done With Us Yet,” the movement said that it was high time Nigerian people arose in their millions to demand immediate reversal of fuel price hike and all anti-poor policies of the administration.
SaharaReporters reported earlier that the National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has commenced full deregulation of the downstream sector by increasing petrol price to between N998 per litre in Lagos and N1, 030 per litre in Abuja and other parts of the country.
But the movement in the statement explained that the latest increase is the second of such in a month, and it is bound to drive the Nigerian people, including workers, youth, artisans, traders and the mass of the people, into a worse state of starvation and hardship.
“We hereby demand an immediate and unconditional reversal of the hike, as well as the return of petrol price, electricity tariffs and food prices to pre-May 29, 2023 levels”.
The statement partly read: “As far as we are concerned, this development is a clear indication that President Tinubu is neither prepared for dialogue nor is he ready to reduce the burden of hunger and excruciating hardship that hapless Nigerians have been bearing since last year when he came to power. To this extent, we call on the Nigerian people to rise in their millions to begin to confront this government with protests and demonstrations until the criminal hike, along with other anti-poor policies are reversed.
“Without our readiness to fight, it is crystal clear that this regime is hell-bent on driving all of us into a state of starvation. We hereby urge all pro-people civil society organisations, NGOs, youth groups, students’ unions, socialist organisations and community associations to begin to meet to discuss how to respond to this latest onslaught.
“We also call on the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to immediately call a 48-hour general strike and mass protest.
“That this increase is coming at a time when the Dangote refinery has become fully operational has exposed the lie that the government told last year to justify the policy of fuel subsidy removal. At that time, the Tinubu government said once Dangote refinery began to produce petroleum products, the price would crash. Now the opposite is what we see today. This clearly demonstrates that privatization, deregulation and other neo-liberal capitalist policies do not offer solution to the economic crisis facing Nigeria.
“We hereby demand reversal of the policies of privatization, deregulation and all neo-liberal and anti-poor capitalist policies.
“We also note that the unrelenting onslaught on the Nigerian people by President Tinubu shows why the struggle to #Endbadgovernance in Nigeria must continue, and hereby urge Nigerian youth, workers and the poor masses to join the growing movement to end bad governance in Nigeria.”
Saharareporters
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