Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as a menace to Nigeria.
PDP Governors Forum in a communique issued at the end of its meeting in Aba, Abia State on Wednesday also decried the inability of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to make its statutory contributions to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), despite oil selling at above $110.
The governors after their review of the hardship and suffering allegedly being meted out to Nigerians by the APC led Federal Government; said the PDP is ready to take over and offer qualitative leadership options to rescue the nation.
They noted that life was much better in 2015 under the PDP than today under the APC as exemplified in the following Comparative Indicators obtained mainly from the National Bureau of Statistics: Diesel which is critical for running of SMEs was N131.47 in 2015, it now costs above N700 and Fuel: Official and Black-Market was N87/155 in 2015, it now costs N167/350.
It stated that “indeed, the scarcity of fuel which has resulted in the loss of several man-hours is a disgrace to Nigeria. The collapse of the National Grid (126 times in 7 years – (June 2015 to March 2022) and its consequences for non-availability of power is most unfortunate”.
The PDP governors also lamented that prices of basic foodstuffs are now three times higher than what they used to be in 2015.
On debt and debt servicing, the PDP governors said “Domestic Debt of N8.4T and External Debt of USD 7.3b was incurred between 1999-2015. While Domestic Debt of N7.63T (June 2015-Dec 2020) and USD28.57b as of Dec 2020 was incurred. External debt of USD21.27b was incurred between June 2015 and 2021. National Debt to GDP ratio was 23.41% (2016) it is now 36.88% (2022).
Continuing, the statement read ” the Corruption Index has risen from 136 in 2015 to 150 now.
“The Forum urged Nigerians to reject the APC, a party run undemocratically by a Committee contrary to the Constitution (S.228) with Mr President regularly issuing instructions and dictates. It is impossible for a party so disorganized to offer good governance to the people of Nigeria.
“The PDP Governors once again decried the inability of the NNPC to make its statutory contributions to the Federation Account, despite Oil selling at above $110. It is patently unconstitutional for NNPC to determine at its whim and discretion when and what to pay to the Federation Account, as it is a mere trustee of the funds for the three tiers of Government: Federal, States and Local Governments.
“We once again, call for investigations and audit of the quantity of consumption of fuel ascribed to Nigerians and for the deployment of technology at the filling stations to determine transparently the volume of consumption”.
The Governors said they would resist any further attempt by the NNPC to ascribe unsubstantiated subsidy claims to other tiers of government.
It further read “NNPC deducts N8.33 billion monthly for the rehabilitation of the Refineries in Nigeria. To date, no refinery is working.
“On priority projects of the Nation’s oil industry, NNPC deducted N788.78Billion for various investments between 2018-2021 without recourse to FAAC.
“NNPC in 2021 alone claimed to have paid over One Trillion Naira as petroleum subsidy. Indeed, in March 2022, N220Billion was deducted as oil subsidy with a promise that N328Billion will be deducted in April 2022. This is unacceptable.
“Conclusively, we believe that all these leakages in NNPC have been made possible because the President is also the Minister of Petroleum. The urgent separation of these two portfolios has become necessary”.
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