The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has described the decision by the Federal Government to introduce a 30-day discount on petrol through NNPC stations as mischievous and an attempt by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) administration to clutch at anything to survive.
The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director Esq, said the proposal “is nothing but tokenism and a Greek gift from a government that whimsically removed fuel subsidy without proper consideration, consultation, or cushions for Nigerians.”
The Federal Government, through the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, had on Thursday announced the 30-day discount for petrol sales amid raging debate on fuel subsidy.
“We are offering a discount on petrol dispensed by NNPC Limited for the next 30 days in the first instance, with priority for public transporters nationwide. So, it’s not a subsidy. The government is just saying we sell to you at cost,” Oyedele had said.
But reacting, the NDC maintained that Nigerians cannot be deceived by the proposal which, it said, amounted to an “attempt to reintroduce petrol subsidy through the backdoor.”
The party spokesman argued that the President Bola Tinubu-led administration had failed Nigerians.
The statement partly read, “What happens to the millions of Nigerians who lost their jobs and whose businesses collapsed as a result of the callous and poorly planned removal of subsidy? What about those who lost their lives in poorly equipped government hospitals that have now become mortuaries?
“It is clear that President Bola Tinubu and the APC government are desperate, and Nigerians must not be deceived. Emilokanomics has failed woefully.
“The attempt to reintroduce petrol subsidy through the backdoor is not only mischievous but a sign of a government in free fall, ready to clutch at anything to survive.
“Even the bogus promise to dispense discounted fuel at designated NNPC retail outlets is not pragmatic. How many such outlets exist in Nigeria to serve over 200 million Nigerians?
Is this not the recipe for another stampede that could have many more Nigerians trampled to death at the filling stations?
“Several questions beg for answers, but the only answer staring Nigerians in the face is that the economy is in a tailspin and at a tipping point. The APC has shown itself glaringly incapable of rescuing the country from imminent collapse.”
“But hope is on the way. His Excellency Peter Obi, under the NDC, will put Nigeria back on the right track. A New Nigeria is POssible with Obi.”
Director called on Nigerians to come en masse on January 16, 2027 and vote for the NDC presidential candidate and all other candidates of the party, noting that such step would help “vote out the most clueless and rudderless government in the history of Nigeria.”
