This suffering will continue till 2019, says Fayose

Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, says the hardship being experienced by Nigerians will continue till 2019.

The fierce critic of President Muhammadu Buhari described the one year of the current administration as “a colossal waste”, saying Nigerians are suffering because they refused his warnings.

Fayose said this in his assessment of the first anniversary of Buhari.

“Nigerians should be reminded that the manner of hardship being faced now was also faced during Buhari’s first coming as a military dictator when people had to queue for essential commodities. Now, Nigerians can’t even afford common tomato to prepare soup,” he said in a statement he personally signed.

“So Nigerians you have heard the truth: under Buhari/APC, it is almost certain that our suffering will continue till 2019.

“Nigerians, remember I warned you before Buhari was elected; I have been warning you since Buhari became president and I am warning now that if nothing is done urgently, the economy of Nigeria will collapse.”

He accused the president of enriching himself at the expense of the masses, saying the increase in pump price is unjustifiable.

Fayose claimed that government officials have been contradicting themselves in the bid to defend the new price regime in the petroleum sector.

“In rewarding Nigerians for electing him as president, President Buhari opted to increase petrol pump price by N58.50!” he said.

“The first justification of the increment was removal of subsidy. But Nigerians were later stunned when the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo said pump price of petrol was increased because Nigeria was broke!

“In other words, President Buhari increased petrol pump price because the country was broke and it needed to shore up its revenue base. The N58.50 added to the previous pump price of N86.50 was an indirect tax imposed on each litre of petrol purchased by Nigerians.

“Simply put, the federal government is indirectly collecting N58.50 naira tax from suffering Nigerians on each litre of petrol they buy. Buhari is no doubt acting like the proverbial Agbalowomeri Baale Jontolo (Aking that exploit his extremely poor subject to further enrich himself).

“It is on record that on May 2 this year, the federal government, in the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) Template released in Abuja, told Nigerians that it was subsidising petrol at N12.62 per litre.

“If not wickedness, how can petrol price be increased to N145 per litre when crude oil is now selling at $49 per barrel? Increasing petrol pump price by N58.50 when the federal government claimed it was subsidising the product at N12.62 per litre is clear wickedness on the part of President Buhari. In the history of Nigeria, increase in price of petrol has never been as high as it was done by Buhari, putting Nigerians in severe hardship as the product affects every sector of the economy.

“Too bad, those who opposed removal of fuel subsidy in 2012 and funded the Occupy Nigeria protest are the ones canvassing support for this Buhari’s wicked one year anniversary gift to Nigerians.

“The labour unions are now completely cowed, dashing completely hope of the common people of Nigeria.

“Presidential spin doctors and APC chieftains labouring to hoodwink the people speak glibly of how so-called deregulation will make products available, reduce cost through competition and the interplay of market forces as well as encourage private sector to build more refineries. But thank God who loves Nigerians so much, the lies of these people was exposed by divine arrangement, I suppose, revealed by no less a person than the junior minister Ibe Kachikwu himself when he said importation of fuel continues till 2019.”