Civil Societies Organisations in Osun state Friday took to the streets to protest the increment in the price of fuel and electricity tariff.
They described the sudden increment as “sheer wickedness, anti-people and affront on common Nigerians.”
Carrying placards of various inscriptions such as “Revert Fuel Price Now,” “We Want a Better Life,” “Electricity Tariff Hike Is Evil,” “PMB People Are Hungry,” among others, the protesters urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately reverse the price of petrol to its normal price.
The protesters had converged at the Freedom Park, Osogbo, in the morning, before moving en masse to Okefia, Olaiya, with thorough monitoring by DSS and policemen.
The federal government, through Pipeline Products Marketing Company, on Wednesday fixed the depot price for premium motor spirit at N151.56 per litre, while the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association Nigeria (IPMAN) directed members to begin to sell at N162 per litre.
The chairman of Osun Civil Societies Coalition (OCSC), Comrade Waheed Lawal, said people of conscience would not sit down and watch the federal government to continue unleashing hardship on the common people through the “obnoxious increment.”
Lawal said the activists in the state would not hesitate to occupy the entire state if the federal government failed to rescind its decision.
He said: “It is totally unacceptable for the federal government to continue taking common Nigerians for granted and taking us for fools. It is an affront on common Nigerians to have increased electricity tariff when there is no regular power supply and proper billing system.
“The increment in the fuel pump price and electricity tariff is not only wicked, uncalled-for and condemnable, it is an act gone too far to test the patience of Nigerians and we can no longer tolerate bad governance.
“The increment will further impoverish Nigerians; kill small- and medium-scale businesses and enterprises and the country’s economy if not reversed.”
In a separate interview, the chairman, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Osun stae chapter, Comrade Wahab Akinrinade, said the new electricity tariff “is nothing but a regulated scam,” adding that “it amounts to sheer exploitation of poor Nigerians.”
He said the increment in the electricity tariff and fuel is another cruel policy that will contribute to the death of manufacturing companies and businesses in Nigeria.
Also, the director of programmes, Centre for Sustained Dialogue, Comrade Waheed Saka, described the approval of the new electricity tariff and fuel pump price as the “highest level of insensitivity from the federal government.”
