Former Kano governor Rabiu Kwankwaso has described the recent hike in electricity tariff and petroleum price as ill-timed that would only make life more difficult on Nigerians.
He urged president Muhammadu Buhari to quickly reverse the increase, adding that he should block the leakages in his administration rather than hiking the prices of the essential commodities.
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Kwankwaso who made the call in an interview with BBC Hausa on Friday also said there is no reason to justify the increases.
He said, “Most countries of the world are providing palliatives to help ease the hardship of COVID-19 pandemic, unfortunately Nigeria is increasing petrol and electricity prices.
“You hardly get anyone in support of this policy,” he added.
The former governor who is also a stalwart of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) warned that the increase may lead to more hunger, insecurity and unemployment in the country.
The one time former minister of defense and former senator also said that there is nothing wrong in government reversing an unpopular decision in the best interest of the people.
Kwankwaso urged the president to stop what he described as strategy of taxing citizens
“Running government involves generating revenues and expenditure, so the best thing the government could do is to stop the leaks in the system and not tax citizens. People would be more happy, had the government did this,” he added.
The former governor who is presently in Edo state to boost PDP’s support ahead of the governorship election in the state said the country is rich enough to take care of its citizens without necessarily inflicting more hardship on them via the price hike.
Daily Trust recall that the federal government had recently increased the prices of electricity and petrol, saying that the hike became necessary due to the fall in government’s subvention necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
