Fuel price hike: Sack managers of our oil sector now, CSO tells Tinubu

The Transparency Accountability for Development Initiatives (TADI), has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to sack the managers of Nigeria’s oil sector over the fuel crisis rocking the country.

Reacting in Abuja at the weekend to the latest increment in fuel price by the National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), to N1,030 from N895, TADI’s Programs Research and Public Relations Officer,  Adeniran Taiwo, also called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene to cushion the sufferings of Nigerians.

While saying heads must roll to sanitize the system, he noted that systemic corruption had left Nigeria reeling from an enduring fuel crisis and a crushing debt burden.

He said the president needed to relieve all the people managing the oil sector of their duties in order to inject fresh hands that may salvage the economy.

According to him, “This is the clarion call of all Nigerians struggling every day, who are enduring unbearable levels of hardship.

“From the skyrocketing cost of fuel to the unrelenting inflation that has made even the basics of life unaffordable. Citizens are suffering, households and businesses alike are stretched to their limits, and the most vulnerable are bearing the brunt of this mismanagement in NNPCL.

“The fuel crisis has drained the nation’s resources and eroded public confidence in the ability of the government to alleviate the hardship.

“The government has failed in his responsibility to provide transparent and effective leadership, and the consequences of this incompetence are being felt by every Nigerian struggling to cope with rising living costs and fuel shortages.

“As the public’s hopes were pinned on the Dangote Refinery to ease the fuel supply crisis, even this venture has failed. Instead of relief, Nigerians continue to see rising costs and little progress toward resolving the structural issues plaguing our energy sector.

“Despite billions of dollars allocated to the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s refineries, there are zero operational refineries today. The economic repercussions of this mismanagement are devastating.

“As of September 2024, Nigeria’s inflation rate has surged to 24.5 per cent an overwhelming strain on the daily lives of Nigerians. In the same period, fuel prices have increased by over 150 per cent, placing an even heavier burden on citizens who are already struggling with high costs of living.”