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.