Fuel subsidy removal - Nigeria's main opposition party flays govt on fuel subsidy removal - The main opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has reacted angrily to the decision by the federal government to hike fuel prices, saying the action shows President Goodluck Jonathan's limitation as a leader. In a statement issued here, the party asked the National Assembly (parliament) and the organized labour to stop the increase.

ACN said the fuel subsidy removal “at a time the country was facing its most-potent internal security threat ever” had exposed “the limitations of President Goodluck Jonathan as a leader and heightened the need for elder statesmen to come to his rescue, before he brings the house crashing down on all.”

It described the removal of fuel subsidy and the lingering Boko Haram threat as a potent mix that can push the country to the precipice in this New Year.

ACN said that while the Boko Haram crisis is a clear and present danger to Nigeria, the Jonathan administration’s shock fuel subsidy removal, despite opposition from most Nigerians, is like pouring fuel on a naked fire, the end of which would definitely not be pleasant for anyone

“Our democracy and indeed the very survival of our nation are in peril, perhaps at a level equaling the civil war period. The PDP government at the centre, through a combination of incompetence, lack of direction and meaningless headiness, has allowed the Boko Haram crisis to fester instead of moving quickly to nip it in the bud.

“As if that was not enough, President Jonathan has gone ahead to instigate a fresh crisis, by hearkening to the voices of agents of the Bretton Woods Institutions instead of the voices of Nigerians who elected him.

“Removing the non-existent fuel subsidy at a time the majority of the population are barely surviving and the ranks of jobless youths swelling, negates the aphorism that when you are in a hole, you stop digging. The dislocation in social order that the fuel subsidy removal will engender will definitely strengthen the hands of the Boko Haram endgamers and worsen the country’s plight.

“Since President Jonathan has now opted to embark on an anti people misadventure it is now up to the elder statesmen, our past leaders, to move quickly to prevent him from bringing the house crashing down on all of us. After all, it is said that elders cannot sit back and allow things to go wrong,” the party said.

ACN also accused the Jonathan administration of running a government by deceit, adding that during the recent stakeholders' meeting in Lagos,Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the President had not taken a decision on the subsidy removal  and would not do so until he had consulted fully with all stakeholders.

Meanwhile, leaders of the country's workers' unions are due to meet Wednesday to announce the date for the start of a nationwide protest to force the government to reverse the fuel price hike.

The main unions, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, have asked Nigerians to be prepared for a prolonged battle over the increase, which took petrol price from 65 naira (0.4 cents) to at least 141 naira (0.90 cents) per litre.

Pana 03/01/2012