The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has informed Nigerians not blame President Bola Tinubu for the current high price of fuel but to hold independent oil marketers responsible for it.
The group stated that barely 12 hours after President Tinubu announced the removal of subsidy on fuel, the oil marketers hiked the price of the product.
The CNG also expressed surprise by what it described as the desperation of the Independent oil marketers who are quick to hike the fuel pump prices by almost five hundred per cent within just 12 hours of the announcement of the subsidy removal.
In a statement signed by the Spokesperson of CNG, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, the Coalition said it observed that the NLC would deceive the public into believing they are protecting their interests, only to betray the course, negotiate with the government at the expense of the suffering masses.
“Now that NLC wants to take the nation for granted once more, we demand that it should, first of all, explain its whereabouts at the time the budget was prepared, presented, defended by the government of the former president Muhammadu Buhari and passed by the 9th National Assembly without the provision for subsidy.
“Otherwise, it will be the peak of self-delusion to think they can hoodwink the public once again into embarking on yet another futile exercise that in the end only benefits the leadership of the NLC who almost all the time sellout every struggle no matter how popular at the slightest of personal offers from the government.
“We emphatically warn the NLC to note that it can never again take anybody for its usual ride, having stripped itself of every strand of credibility, public trust and confidence.
“This quick hike and desperation to hoard the commodity is aimed at stocking anger against the new administration by the few who benefit from the trillions of the subsidy sum among the marketers and NNPCL officials.
“Having come this far, the CNG feels dutybound to alert the Nigerian public to guard against being dragged into a flight without knowing its actual destination.
“The public should note that by its antecedents of betraying public confidence, the NLC has lost every claim to competence to speak for or act on behalf of the generality of the people beyond servicing the interest of a limited constituency of less than one per cent of the total population of Nigerians.
“We call on the public to hold the Independent oil marketers responsible for the sudden deterioration of the prices of Petroleum a few hours after the announcement by the government on the subsidy.”