The PDP expressed deep concern over the timing and manner of the price increase, which it described as "thoughtless" and potentially explosive.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the recent hike in the pump price of fuel to as high as N1,000 per litre in some parts of the country.
The opposition party labelled the development as a "brutal assault on the sensibilities and wellbeing of Nigerians," attributing the blame to the "insensitive and arrogant" administration of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The PDP expressed deep concern over the timing and manner of the price increase, which it described as "thoughtless" and potentially explosive.
The party warned that the escalation in fuel costs could exacerbate the already dire economic conditions facing Nigerians, leading to widespread unrest and further destabilising the country.
In a statement released on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, the opposition party said there is practically no hope in sight under the current APC government’s policies.
Ologunagba explained that the secretive and corrupt administration of the petroleum sector and persistent increase in fuel price under the Tinubu-administration without due regard for the wellbeing of the people is akin to pushing Nigerians to the wall and daring them to do their worst.
The statement reads, "The APC administration has consistently shown itself to be anti-people, unconcerned and deaf to the agonies of millions of Nigerians who can no longer afford their daily meals, medications and basic support for families due to the catastrophic high cost of living occasioned by the insensitive and reckless policies of the Tinubu administration.
"Today, under the Tinubu-led APC administration over 150 million Nigerians have sunk below poverty line, businesses are collapsing daily as the Naira now exchange for over N1,600 to a Dollar with over 34% inflation rate and over 40% unemployment rate which are expected to rise further with the latest draconian increase in the price of fuel."
Ologunagba noted that there is practically no hope in sight under the current APC government as major multi-national companies continue to exit our country in droves in the face of ill-conceived and ill-implemented macro-economic policies.
He said, "The admission by the APC-led Federal Government that it has handed the fate of Nigerians to oil racketeers in the name of free market economy further validates the position of the PDP that the Tinubu-led administration has abdicated the primary purpose of government; which is to provide for the welfare and security of the citizens.”
According to him, President Tinubu is the Minister of Petroleum Resources and cannot exonerate his government and officials from the secretive and fraudulent management of the petroleum sector which is fast pushing the country’s economy to the precipice.
"Moreover, it is inexplicable that the APC administration continues to increase fuel price despite the scandalous revelation in the public domain that it is secretly paying a whopping N5.4 trillion as fuel subsidy for 2024," he said.
He added that the APC government has now become an enabler of a cabal of corrupt APC rent-seekers who apparently derive pleasure in inflicting pains on Nigerians while hugely benefiting from the proceeds of incessant increase in fuel price to satisfy and fund their luxury appetite and consumption.
The party said, "With the hopeless state of affairs of our nation today, our Party wonders what President Tinubu, during his numerous trips abroad, says to his foreign counterparts in nations where leaders prioritize the welfare of their people.
"Nigerians will recall that the PDP had on several occasions offered constructive advice and suggestions on the management of the economy which the APC government in its arrogance in failure ignored.”
"Our Party restates that with a deft, transparent and innovative management of resources, economic potentials, comparative advantage and national refining capacity, petrol should not sell more than N250 per liter in Nigeria," Ologunagba added.
The party called on President Tinubu to save the country from further socio-economic dislocation by immediately reversing the latest provocative increase in fuel price and revisiting all life-discounting and suffocating policies of the APC government.