Oil cartels blackmailing Buhari, says Oyegun

John Oyegun, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says “oil cartels and their cronies” are resisting change and have continued to “blackmail and sabotage” President Muhammadu Buhari’s efforts to make petroleum products available to all Nigerians.

Still, Oyegun, who was speaking via a New Year statement released by Edegbe Odemwingie, APC’s assistant ‎director of publicity, assured Nigerians that 2016 would be a better year for them.

“I want to, on behalf of our great party, the APC, wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year.

”While 2015 was difficult for many Nigerians, we must also look back, with relief and a collective sense of jubilation, to the momentous opportunity it offered to the electorate to make the long-desired change,” he said.

“And we must sustain the hope that brighter days are ahead of us. Although our challenges are legion, we have the courage and determination to rise up and meet them.

”I want to give a firm assurance that all the promises made by the party in respect of the 2015 election to Nigerians will be kept.

”The New Year holds great dividends for Nigerians when the policies of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration are enforced in the 2016 financial year.”

He added that the N6.08 trillion ‘Budget of Change’ presented by the president would help in meeting all the promises to the people, including paying stipends to the unemployed.

‎He lauded the full implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), saying all government revenue inflows and disbursements could be effectively monitored and also plug revenue leakages.

“In line with the party’s promise to restructure the country’s oil and gas sector, which has been marred by corruption and inefficiencies, government has set in motion a mechanism to unbundle the NNPC to enhance more productivity,transparency and accountability.

“President Buhari’s administration inherited a corruption-tainted subsidy regime run by corrupt cartels.

“Oil cartels and their cronies resisting change have continued to blackmail and sabotage government’s effort on the issue of subsidy and availability of petroleum products.

“To this end, the presidential directive to the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to adjust its pricing template to reflect competitive and market driven components should be supported.

“A review of PPPRA’s pricing template will‎ result in a more efficient and realistic pricing system for petroleum products and also result in constant availability of fuel nationwide.”

The statement lauded the government’s war against insurgency, saying the improved welfare had increased the morale of the nation’s troops in combat areas.

“The international community is co-operating with the military offensive, including sharing of intelligence information, to end insurgency in Nigeria, as part of the efforts to combat global terrorism,” he said.

“In spite of desperate and shameless attempts to discredit President Buhari’s anti-corruption efforts, the war against graft is being won.

“It is reassuring that the Federal Government has recovered huge sums from looters of our common wealth, which will be injected into the 2016 National Budget.

“Electricity supply has improved in most parts of the country. Job creation and social inclusion are critical to the administration’s development programmes; hence President Buhari has promised that 500,000 new teachers would be recruited among other job creation initiatives.

“Looking back at the last seven months, there are clear indicators showing that the APC and the President Buhari administration are on the right track to delivering on its Change Agenda.”