Jonathan, PDP to blame for Nigeria’s fuel scarcity, worsening electricity – APC

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The APC Presidential Campaign Organization (APCPCO) has condemned the recent and sudden emergence of fuel scarcity and fuel queues in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and some parts of the country, as well as the recent gross reduction in the hours of electricity supply across the country by electricity providers describing it as sad reminders of the failure of the PDP Federal Government.

The party wondered how a political party which has been in power for 16 years and which is unable to ensure that its citizens enjoy regular fuel supply being an oil producing and endowed country and electricity having privatized the power sector and given generous financial assistance to operators of the power sector can still feel confident to seek another term in office.

In a press statement Garba Shehu, Director of Media Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Organization, the party said that the glaring and inexcusable failure of the PDP government in these two important areas is a sign of gross ineptitude, maladministration and corruption which is responsible for the sorry economic state the average citizen of Nigeria has found themselves.

For the people of Nigeria to be again confronted with the specter of fuel scarcity so soon after the harrowing experience of last Christmas period shows that the Jonathan government can never get anything right as Nigeria will continue to be an embarrassment among the oil producing countries of the world. The issue is that being unable to set up even one new refinery in the past five years and unable to get existing refineries to function up to 50 per cent capacity, the people of Nigeria surely need another set of people to be in charge of affairs. Those who man the two critical sectors of fuel and power are cronies of President Jonathan and supporters of the PDP that they have no reason to discharge their mandate in favour of the Nigerian people.

We all remember the hype and fanfare with which the privatization of the power sector was carried out and yet majority of Nigerians are having less electric power or none at all but are forced to pay outrageous electricity bills to the operators of the power companies who are either card-carrying members of the PDP or are close associates of President Jonathan. 

To add insult to injury, the Jonathan government has also given billions of naira to these operators under the guise of assisting them to improve power supply, without result. And this happened after the sector had been sold and the facilities handed over to these private operators.

We of the APC demand that the Jonathan government and his party explain to Nigerians the reason why fuel scarcity and blackout should persist making life a hell for Nigerians, despite huge investments and policies put in place to eradicate these problems.

In a separate statement, the APCPCO also said the return of fuel queues at filling stations is a confirmation that the policies of the Jonathan administration are founded on deceit and insincerity.

It explained that the recent fuel price reductions announced by the Federal Government was borne out of political expediency, rather than compassion, because the ruling party is desperate to cling to power at all costs.  

The statement signed by Garba Shehu said all the emergency projects and palliatives being bandied about by the Jonathan government are intended to pull wool over the eyes of Nigerians.

According to Mr. Shehu, a PDP administration that greeted Nigerians with an unprecedented fuel price increase of N140 per litre in January 2012 has lost the basis to be trusted any further by Nigerians.

He explained that the APC Presidential Campaign was not surprised by the sudden return of fuel queues at filling stations in Abuja and other major cities.

He said the return of fuel queues, which are causing undue hardships for passengers, motorists and other Nigerians, has made nonsense of the recent Federal Government’s announced reductions in fuel prices.   

Mr. Shehu added that the PDP’s artificial show of compassion towards Nigerians in the face of imminent electoral debacle should not fool anyone.

The APCPCO explained that a ruling party that once boasted of its invincibility is now confronted with the reality of imminent defeat, which it said, has shattered the false sense of security which until recently, deluded the ruling party into ridiculous overconfidence.

According to the statement, all the current PDP emergency reliefs or projects for Nigerians are borne out of the fear of defeat rather than genuine compassion for the Nigerian people.

Describing the Jonathan government as “notoriously unreliable,” the APCPCO said any policies founded on deceits would collapse and expose those who thrive on duplicity.

Mr. Shehu said that the return of fuel queues was like an accident waiting to happen because the recent reductions in petroleum product prices by the Jonathan PDP administration were not based on sincerity.

The APC presidential campaign said the scales are dropping from the eyes of Nigerians day and after day, and that they are embracing the imperatives of change for a better Nigeria.

Garba Shehu
Directorate of Media and Publicity
All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign