Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has tasked the Presidency and the National Assembly to work together to swiftly address the lingering fuel scarcity crisis and the recent rooftop electricity tariff in Nigeria as posterity would ultimately judge them.
It also called on the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to deploy some of the strategies it deployed in addressing the forex crisis to get rid of some saboteurs in the petroleum and power sectors to permanently nip the fuel scarcity and epileptic power supply in the bud.
The CNG in a statement by the national coordinator Comrade Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi said it is deeply concerned about the persistent and debilitating fuel scarcity that has plagued Nigeria recently, causing untold hardship to citizens across the country.
It said the coalition is outraged at the failure of the relevant authorities to address this critical issue that directly affects millions of ordinary Nigerians, resulting in long queues at fuel stations, a hike in transportation costs, and untold suffering for millions of law-abiding Nigerians.
The group expressed dismay that despite the assurances from the NNPCL, the fuel scarcity has continued to worsen selling above N1,000 per litre, leading to skyrocketing prices of goods and services.
“We are worried that if this situation is not addressed urgently, it could lead to further impoverishment and destitution of the already dejected Nigerians; thus, the CNG demands that the Executive and the Legislative arms need to understand the implications of fuel scarcity on national security and the economy.
“President Bola Tinubu must engage with NNPCL and marketers to pursue an immediate and comprehensive solution to this artificially-created fuel scarcity as a ploy by unscrupulous elements in the system to sabotage it and ooze out the remnant of a good life from ordinary Nigerians. The CNG argues that excuses from the Marketers and explanations from the NNPCL are flawed and untenable as there are no fundamental disruptions in the system that can warrant the current predicament.
“The minister of state for petroleum resources and the GMD of the NNPCL must explain measures being taken to end the fuel scarcity and ensure that fuel is available to citizens at affordable prices,” it said.
The CNG urged the federal government and the National Assembly to take this matter seriously and act with urgency to address the situation as it has the potential to erode lives and livelihoods if left unchecked.
It warned that if the issue is not decisively dealt with, Nigerians will continue to view them as monstrous and wicked people who are after their aggrandizement to the detriment of unsuspecting Nigerians.
Similarly, the CNG is further alarmed by the perennial electricity blackout and recent tariff hike that has plunged Nigerians into darkness and economic hardship.
It said the DisCos backed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has continued to charge Nigerians a new exorbitant price of N225 per unit as against the old N68 that the National Assembly instructed them to revert.
