Lagos State governor, Mr Babatunde
Fashola, yesterday, queried the federal
government reluctance to cut the pump
price of oil from N97 per litre in the
countryin order to correspond with the
drop in the global price. Fashola made the
statement while addressing hundreds of
youths at the Lagos State After School
Graduation Development Centre, AGDC,
IGNITE Employability Project 5, Ikeja.
He
lamented that Nigerians were not
receiving fair treatment from the
government like citizens in other oil
producing nations.
The Organisation of Petroleum exporting
Countries, (OPEC) had on Friday, on its
website, put the oil price at $66.27 per
barrel.
According to him, “Now, we should be
enjoying cheap fuel if the price of oil has
dropped globally. And even as we import
the product, a major component has
reduced in price. While this has reduced,
the pump price of fuel in the country still
remains the same. Something is wrong.
“If the price increases in the country when
the price of oil goes up globally, then it
should also reduce when the price of oil
drops.
“I understand that I am not an economist;
they (federal government) are the
economist. But I have some logic and
common sense to ask critical questions.
For instance, if one buys flour at N10 per
kilogram, and the bread is sold at N1 per
loaf, if the price of flour drops, the price
of the bread should also change”, he
added.
Fashola said President Goodluck
Jonathan-led administration should follow
the footstep of other countries that have
reduce the pump prices of oil products for
their citizens.
The governor however noted that the oil
sector of the country had not been
improved to address challenges
confronting the nation especially
unemployment, saying “The economy is
not doing well. Some of you are
compelled to try to survive through
whatever means.” Explaining how the oil
sector would have addressed the
unemployment challenges, He said “If we
are trying to build refinery with Dangote in
LFZ, Epe; and the construction alone
would require 8, 000 workers.
It means that they must get to work and
back. So there is need for transportation
service. There is need for food. And other
services during work. And post
construction.
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