President Muhammadu Buhari has once again defended and justified the recent hike in price of premium motor spirit (PMS) popularly known as petrol.
The President on Thursday in his speech to mark the 60th independence anniversary of the country said the price of petrol in Nigeria is fair when compared to other oil-producing countries.
According to him, it makes no sense for fuel to be cheaper in Nigeria than in Saudi Arabia which sells at N168 per litre.
Buhari said: “Petroleum prices in Nigeria are to be adjusted. We sell now at N161 per litre. A comparison with our neighbours will illustrate the point:
“Chad which is an oil producing country charges N362 per litre, Niger, also an oil producing country sells 1 litre at N346. In Ghana, another oil producing country, petroleum pump price is N326 per litre.
“Further afield, Egypt charges N211 per litre. Saudi Arabia charges N168 per litre. It makes no sense for oil to be cheaper in Nigeria than in Saudi Arabia.”
It will be recalled that the increases in fuel price and electricity tariff sparked outrage lately. The Trade Union Congress and the Nigeria Labour Congress had threatened to commence a nationwide strike on Monday but called it off following a last minute agreement with the government.
During his broadcast this morning, the President confessed that he faces realities and takes tough decisions for the good of the country.
“No government in the past did what we are doing with such scarce resources. We have managed to keep things going in spite of the disproportionate spending on security,” he said.
He called on Nigerians to be united and help his administration achieve its goals.
But the President’s speech has been criticised by many Nigerians who took to social media to question his comparison of the price of petrol in Nigeria and other countries, pointing out Nigeria’s high cost of living, low minimum wage, poor ease of doing business and other economic indices, which citizens of those countries don’t experience.
