Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has questioned the logic behind the deregulation of fuel price by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.
The price increase has continued to generate backlash among the Nigerian public since last week when the announcement was made.
President Buhari had on Monday said there will be negative consequences if the government continued with the business of fixing or subsidising the prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) known as petrol, The New Diplomat reported.
Read also: Just In: Buhari Sacks Dokubo, Appoints New Coordinator Of Amnesty Programme
Buhari, who was represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, at a 2-day First Year Ministerial Performance Review Retreat, in Abuja said the price increase was as a result of ongoing efforts being made to deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.
“This explains why the PPPRA made the announcement a few days ago setting the range of price that must not be exceeded by marketers.
Read also: How Petrol Subsidy Gulped N101bn In 3 Months- Report
“The advantage we now have is that anyone can bring in petroleum products and compete with marketers, that way the price of petrol will be keep coming down,” President Buhari said.
Atiku, while reacting to the hike in fuel prices on Twitter, argued that despite government’s claim on deregulating the oil downstream, the pump price of petrol in the country has not dropped amid decline in global oil prices.
According to him, fuel prices in the US and Europe are far lower than they were in 2019.
He wrote; ”I am a businessman. I look at things from an economic perspective. Questions beg answers. The price of crude is down from where it was in 2019. In the US and Europe, fuel prices are far lower than they were in 2019. If we truly deregulated, shouldn’t fuel price have dropped?” he tweeted
