Home News Fuel, Electricity Tarriff: JAF Berates Buhari For ‘Taking Nigerians For A Ride,’...

Fuel, Electricity Tarriff: JAF Berates Buhari For ‘Taking Nigerians For A Ride,’ Demands Reversal

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Oyo State chapter of the Joint Action Forum (JAF) says the Muhammdau Buhari led administration is taking Nigerians for a ride by making the cost of living unbearable for citizens.

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The Coordinator of JAF, a coalition of pro-labour, radical and socialist oriented civil society organisations, in Oyo State, Professor Ademola Aremu, stated this while reading the press text issued by the organization at a press conference held on Wednesday at the secretariat of the Nigeria Labour Congress.

He also expressed its displeasure and dissatisfaction over the recent hikes in pump price of petrol, electricity tariff, VAT as well as other anti people policies of the Buhari-led government.

 

He called on the Nigerian working people to resist the onslaughts until the total reversal is forced noting that “to achieve this requires the general public to be sensitised on: reasons to organise a fight back; demands to be advanced in the course of it and; roles to be played by individuals to build mass support for the demands towards ensuring their.”

Speaking on why the Nigerian People must fight back, Comrade Ademola said, “It will be recalled that before the barrage of these attacks, the practical realities for the mass of the working people across the country is that the cost of living including prices of food items and transportation had become so unbearable owing to economic dislocation occasioned by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

“For instance, a bag of rice that used to be #26,000 two weeks ago is now #36,000. The exchange rate of Naira has been subjected to technical devaluation at different times in the last six months while different taxes had also been imposed on the working people within the same period. Given this situation, especially when mass of the working class is currently suffering different economic consequences of the pandemic ranging from job loss, slash in salary to nonpayment of salary, the new increase in fuel price and electricity tariff will no doubt worsen the living condition.

“The meagre income earned by the working people will further shrink as the masses will be made to pay more for basic social utilities should we fail to organise to defeat this onslaught.”

He also explained that Nigerians need to fight back to stop the President from taking the working people for a ride noting that the government is “robing the poor to satisfy the profit greed of the few members of the billionaire class.”

He then called for a “total reversal of the hike in the price of petrol, electricity tariff and VAT at least to #87 per litre, Repair of all the old public refineries and build new ones under a democratic control and management of the working people, An end to various neoliberal policies like Deregulation, privatisation while the oil and power sector must be re-nationalised under a democratic control of the working people.”

He added that JAF wants the leadership of trade union centre, NLC and TUC to declare a 48hours nationwide strike and street protest to resist the hikes and demand a total reversal as well as an end to neoliberal policies.

When asked by OYOINSIGHT reporter how the organization wants the government to reduce fuel price when it does not have control over it due to the removal of subsidy, Proffesor Adekunle stated that they don’t believe subsidy ever really existed.

He added that in 2012, they discovered that what the government call subsidy is not really subsidy but various corrupt practices cooked up together.

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