PDP reveals moves to ensure deregulation of petroleum sector isn’t manipulated

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday said it was monitoring the deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.

It noted that if the market forces were truly allowed to determine the prices of petroleum products that Nigerians would not be buying fuel for a price beyond N70 per liter.

In a statement by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the opposition party assured that it was studying the ongoing procedures by the Federal Government on the deregulation process to ensure that it was not manipulated against the interest of ordinary Nigerians.

“Consequently, the PDP invites the Federal Government to immediately declare and surrender the proceeds of the overcharges on pump price of fuel price since the fall in oil price in the international market and direct such to the benefit of Nigerians.

“The PDP also calls on the Federal Government to immediately recover the over N14 trillion exposed to have been stolen in the oil sector in the last five years of the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration, and direct same to the development of the oil and gas sector.

“Our party holds that if the stolen N14 trillion, made up of alleged N9 trillion detailed in the leaked NNPC memo as well as alleged diversions of subsidy funds, is recovered and injected into our economy, such will revamp our refineries, push prices further down and create more jobs and employment opportunities for our citizens.

READ ALSO: PDP TO BUHARI’S GOVT: Stop fleecing Nigerians, reduce fuel price to N70 per litre

“Nigerians are aware that prior to his emergence as the President, President Muhammadu Buhari had declared fuel subsidy a fraud, but five years after, the government which he heads, watched over a subsidy regime that has been exposed to be replete with corruption.

“Our party insists that the Federal Government should not use the deregulation process to sweep the issues of overcharge in the pump price of fuel as well as allegations of corruption in its subsidy regime, under the carpet,” the statement read.

The party, therefore, urged the National Assembly to immediately set up an ad hoc committee to investigate the sleazes in the oil subsidy regime in the last five years and clean up the oil and gas sector so as to ensure a transparent deregulation in the industry.

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