President Bola Tinubu has been charged to rein-in on the petroleum industry cabals with a view to entrenching sanity into the sector and make life better for Nigerians.
This was disclosed by a coalition of civil society organisations in Osun State, The Osun Masterminds, TOM, at its monthly state-of-the-State address on Saturday in Osogbo.
Professor Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli, the group’s Executive Director, disclosed that since the removal of subsidy the petroleum industry has gone haywire with the masses suffering the recklessness of marketers in the industry.
He added that the cabal in the industry has taken Nigerians for granted for too long, hence, the need for the President to take control in a bid to put a stop to the current excruciating hardship masses are experiencing.
His words, “We have keenly followed the emerging trends in the petroleum industry, especially as concerns product pricing. Consequent upon the seeming deregulation of the downstream sector through removal of fuel subsidy, the petroleum market seems to have gone haywire, with marketers forcing arbitrary prices on helpless citizens, through artificial, man-made product scarcity.
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“Suffice to say that the Federal Government under President Bola Tinubu, having removed fuel subsidy, has unfortunately failed to implement palliative measures in a speedy manner. The slow implementation of palliative policies on one hand, and the cruel pricing template of petroleum marketers on the other hand, ordinary citizens are under such immense pressure as they have never seen all their lives.
“We call on President Bola Tinubu to immediately launch efforts to rein in the petroleum industry cabal that has held Nigerians at the jugular for far too long. The President must also give marching orders to several key Ministers, to ensure that they they do not remain dead wood, but become very active in the discharge of their responsibilities.
“The President must listen to Nigerians now, and end the hardship that citizens are facing every day, which has also transferred pressure to several sectors of the consumer market. We eagerly expect concise action from Mr. President in this regard”.
The group also stressed the need for the Federal Government, through the appropriate agencies, end ongoing arbitrary price fixing of commodities in the country at the detriment of the populace.
“We also must lay emphasis on the need for the Federal Government to immediately end the ongoing arbitrary price fixing across several sectors of the economy. The current costs of everyday items are going over the roof, out of the reach of the average Nigerian. We must find a way to remove the middlemen who are arbitrarily raising the costs of items between manufacturer to final consumer, for filthy gains”, he added.