Fuel price increase denied by FG defended by Tinubu in China in one of Ajuri’s last statements

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

“Nigeria is going through reforms, and we are taking very bold and unprecedented decisions. For example, you might have been hearing from home in the last few days about fuel prices. But, can we help it? Can we develop good roads like you have here? You see electricity being constant in quantity and quality. You see water supply, constant and running, and you see their good schools. And we say we want to hand over a banner without stain to our children?”

Within the stretch of 48 hours, Nigerian administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu put Nigerians in the usual dilemma of brain cracking to pick the near truth from many rumours or conflicting information, let out, by themselves.”

This was as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Federal Government, Dangote Refinery and President Tinubu himself made statements, regarding the “unhealthy” fuel price increase that kept all lips wagging and many citizens left groping in darkness of the allegedly energized official ambiguity.

Last week, just as Nigerians were in the celebrative mood over the Refinery success of Kano State-born Alhaji Aliko Dangote’s commencement of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) that is petrol now produced as Made-in-Nigeria in line with policy of its supporters, the penultimate and immediate past administrations of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari, respectively, the Tinubu’s government controlled NNPCL jacked up price of the already unaffordable yet “very” scarce fuel from between N568 and N700 depending on which part of the country to N880.

The DEFENDER reports that already before the new increment described by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) as a betrayal of trust coming from the administration, major marketers sold for between N630 and N750 while independent marketers sold for between N830 and N990 on the Lagos, Ogun and Oyo axis alone, let alone areas farther than that.

With the new price now by the lion of the oil sector itself, the NNPCL, Nigerians now grope with pains and pangs of having to achieve their naturally and constitutionally guaranteed their freedom of movement only if they can afford from at between N950 and N1,000 per litre at the more accessible independent marketers’ outlets.

But the Federal Government, in a swift reaction, said it had no hand in the increase as effected by the NNPCL as Nigerians asked questions why Dangote’s newly commenced production could not put a challenge to the NNPCL’s increment as a media report by BusinessDay said NNPCL had started lifting PMS from its new refinery.

The rumour outside was that NNPCL, under a controversial arrangement with OVH, would buy up Dangote’s PMS and distribute to Nigerian outlets. This rumour was let circulating for many days without government neither the NNPCL denying it until a statement signed by Dangote’s Group Brand and Communications Officer, Mr. Anthony Chiejina, debunked the news report saying “NNPCL has not lifted PMS” from its refinery.

In furtherance to the statement and a circulated video watched by this globalized online newspaper, it was confirmed by both Chiejina and Alhaji Aliko Dangote, himself, that the refinery revered as the largest and the purest petrol on the African continent was fully ready and prepared not only to satisfy the local needs of Nigerian energy consumers and help Nigerian stop importation of the petroleum products but also make export in a way that helps strengthen the nation’s currency, the Naira.

However, Dangote informed Nigerians that where it had shown capacity and was ready any time to make his product available to Nigerians, he could not say that of pricing as it was not within the purview of his company to determine the price that the PMS would buy as that, according to him, fell within the responsibility of relevant government agency.

Dangote revealed that there was nothing he could do without perfection of arrangement with the NNPCL which would be the off-taker of his PMS and the relevant government agency still regulates the oil sector, saying “sector is strictly regulated”.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) and public commentator, Dr. Uche Diala, kicked after the revelations as they both respectively called on the Federal Government not to strangulate Dangote and on Dangote to fix his own PMS price by himself and announce it to Nigerians for them to be able to follow up his progress.

Reacting to the yet another set of revelations of what was suspected to be a grand plan of the government, despite Tinubu’s make-believe public statement impressing that he no longer had problem with now clearly known Nigeria’s most patriotic investor by his order that crude oil be sold to him in Naira, the NNPCL came out with a statement wherein it denied being offtaker of the Dangote’s self-made PMS success.

Although economic analysts have reeled how why Dangote PMS cannot sell lower than the NNPCL price, the privatized yet still government controlled NNPCL also said that it would have nothing to do with fixing price for the new and only Nigeria’s functional refinery’s petrol as, according to it, price for petrol in Nigeria would be determined free market.

Why the statement by NNPCL has been acknowledged to be noted by MURIC, many Nigerians, who scrutinised deeply into it, picked holes with it. They said the NNPCL was still dragging the country along the path of ambiguity by its free market in a country that has only one refinery functional. They insinuated that Mele Kyari-led company still preferred that fuel be imported from abroad into Nigeria at the current exchange rate of N1,600 where its undisclosed plot was to ensure that Dangote would not sell lower than the price it fixed for its own imported fuel at that rate.

The final information that Nigerians can now believe came when the big lion, himself, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, roared from China, where he at the international level defended his government, which had denied responsibility at home in Nigeria, increased the price of fuel.

The statement to the effect was released by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ajuri Ngelale, a day before he last statement announcing his indefinite leave of absence and stepping down from office as envoy of the president on climate change. By the statement, Ngelale, Ajuri spoke in parable allowing for different interpretations by the media including The DEFENDER, which reported his exit as “Another official, Ajuri Ngelale, dumps Tinubu’s Presidency, steps down as Envoy”.

According to the statement, Tinubu told Nigerians in the Diaspora (China) that, the good things that China has achieved was not without toughness and that, it is what he is currently doing in Nigeria.

President Tinubu said, “Nigeria is going through reforms, and we are taking very bold and unprecedented decisions. For example, you might have been hearing from home in the last few days about fuel prices.

“But, can we help it? Can we develop good roads like you have here? You see electricity being constant in quantity and quality. You see water supply, constant and running, and you see their good schools. And we say we want to hand over a banner without stain to our children?

“What is the critical part to get us there if we cannot take hard decisions to pave the way for a country that is blessed and so talented?

“So many of you are so talented, speaking very fluent Mandarin. It is what you contribute and tell them at home that will reflect in the attitude of our people. The more you want everything free, it will become more expensive and long-delayed to achieve meaningful development,’’ the President said.

The “critical part to get us there”, as said by Tinubu, has been hit with hot criticism by Nigerians at home, who challenged to him to “tell us from that China you are, how many years did it take China to achieve its economic reforms and how many Chinese able bodies of hunger and hardship from the very point and moment” the Peoples Republic came to its senses to begin to use his population to develop itself?

They said that it was wrong for Tinubu, whose expenses of buying a new presidential jet of $150 million, Escalade ‘Beast’ car of over billion naira and foreign made cars for 109 Senators at several billions of naira among other allegedly frivolous expenses “amidst #EndBadGovernance protest across the country, to be telling the world in China a different story from the reality on ground and comparing that with how China achieved its own greatness.

One of the respondents, who came out anonymity but simply identified himself as Olusi, said, “Tinubu should also tell the world that he is ensuring unhindered sentence by firing squad or beheading as punishment for anyone who has been found in a transparency court proceedings guilty of having stolen public money or having awarded public contracts to his family or personal interest as he goes about his over one year reform without end.

“He should tell how why he did not work out with China during his visit, modality for implementation of the currency swap pack predecessor President Muhammadu Buhari signed with them to enable Nigerian merchants buy directly from China in Yuan. It is only if comes home these assurances that we can be rest assured that the President is doing our bidding,” he said.

President Bola Tinubu on Friday September 6, 2024 in Beijing rounded off his official engagements in China by meeting with Nigerians living in the country, describing his visit as “very good and successful.”

Addressing members of Nigerians in Diaspora Organization in China (NIDO China) and the Nigerian community at the China World Hotel, the President emphasized his efforts to strengthen cooperation in infrastructure, trade, finance, energy, green economy and mining during his discussions with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang and his participation at the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).