Complete removal of government is the last hope of the people.
Nigerians on Twitter have opted for total removal of subsidy and jacking up of fuel as the final solution to reoccurring fuel crisis in the country.
According to the results of poll by a socio-economic accountability body, BudgIT Nigeria, 32 percent of Nigerians voted for an increase in fuel. This represents majority decision of Nigerians that participated in the short survey.
The survey was conducted to aggregate opinions of Nigerians on the proposal by Minister of state for petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu. Kachikwu revealed the country is paying over N900 million daily to keep the fuel price at N145/litre.
“NNPC has incurred a loss of N85.5 billion (N800-900m daily) in importing petrol and selling price at a discounted price of N145 per litre in 3 months. The landing cost is now N171 per litre,” he said.
He, thus, proposed for an increase in price or government continue to subsidise the product.
Also Read: 'No plans to increase fuel price,' Minister insists
Causes of the December 2017 fuel crisis in Nigeria
In the last month of 2017, there was a massive fuel shortage across the country. This is coming after two consecutive years (2015 & 2016) of crisis-free December in Nigeria.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) claimed the December 2017 strike by PENGASAN triggered panic buying across the country. Although the strike was for just 24 hours, the NNPC stated that the damage has already been done.
Diversion of the petroleum countries of Cameroun, Niger Republic and Chad was also identified as a factor to be considered. In these countries, a litre of fuel is sold between N300 and N400. Hence, many products from Nigeria usually found their way to there.
“We now have to go back and find the solution to this problem in order to ease supply gaps and ensure availability of the product at all times,” the Minister said.
Kachikwu insisted that independent marketers and importers will not be able to import the product at the current foreign exchange rate and sell for N145 per litre. He said that is only possible when the exchange rate was N285 per Dollar, but now the Naira presently exchanges for N365 per Dollar.