Fayose Accuses Buhari of Secretly Plotting to Increase Pump Price

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

The former Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has said the federal government must perish the idea of increasing the pump price of petrol from N145 per litre to N185 March next year, saying: “Nigerians have suffered enough in the hands of the APC government and
won’t accept any further upward review of petrol pump price.”

The former governor, who described the planned increment as a way of taking back whatever that is added to workers’ salary as minimum wage increment, said: “They are delaying the increment till March because of its effects on the February 2019 elections.”

Fayose, in a statement by his Media Aide Lere Olayinka, said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) presentation to the Senate last week that N145 fuel pump price was unrealistic and that the pump price of petrol was supposed to be N185 per litre as against the official price of N145 per litre was a way to prepare the minds of Nigerians for the planned increment.

He said: “Smuggling is an outdated excuse for increasing petrol pump
price, it will no longer be accepted by Nigerians.

“Nigerians are suffering. Millions of jobs have been lost and even many of those still employed are not gainfully employed. The federal government must not add to the burden of the suffering masses by increasing the pump price of petrol as being planned.”

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairmen of local councils in Ekiti State have called on the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party as well as the Senate President Bukola Saraki to call the Senate Minority Leader Biodun Olujimi to order, accusing her
of promoting dissidents in the PDP.

Rising from an emergency meeting in Ado Ekiti on Monday, the chairmen,
in a statement signed on their behalf by the State ALGON Chairman, Hon. Dapo Olagunju, emphasised that there was no reason whatsoever for anyone to call for the dissolution of the Chief Gboyega Oguntuase-led state Exco of the party and no leadership vacuum in the party as the leader remained former Governor Fayose.

“Last Saturday, the senator assembled some people, mostly those who left the party to other parties to contest the July 14 governorship election with the agenda of collapsing the party structures from Ward to the state levels and announce herself as leader of the party in the state.

“It is instructive to note that none of us, the 16 elected council chairmen attended the so-called stakeholders meeting. Also not in the meeting were notable leaders of the party, including the immediate past deputy governor and our party’s guber candidate in the July 14
election, his deputy, the five PDP Reps members and one senator,” it said.

But PDP members under the aegis of Stakeholders’ Forum insisted that
the Senate Minority Leader Olujimi remains the leader of the party in
the state.

It also said that there was no going back in its call for the dissolution of the State Working Committee (SWC) of the party.

The stakeholders, in a statement issued on Monday through the forum of Public Relations Officer, Mr. Gbenga Akinola, in Ado Ekiti on Monday said the PDP constitution does not recognise any caucus within the party including the so called Reps Caucus.

The statement reads: “On behalf of members, leaders and stakeholders
of our great party in Ekiti State, we restate our loyalty to Senator Olujimi as our leader.

“The House of Representatives Caucus was not known to the party’s
constitution and that they were imposed on the party in 2015 in spite of the fact that they were all Labour Party returning that were not confirmed as PDP members for the two years membership term of the party.

“They are far distanced from the political happenings at their home state. The stakeholders are expecting that they come around to work for their own victory and the party in the presidential election in 2019 and address the illegality and offences of the SEC as contained in our party constitution Section 58 subsection 1(d) page 99”.