..fixes mass protest on August 3
Arewa Citizens Watch for Good Governance, ACWGG, has said it would hold massive protests on August 3, 2023, against fuel subsidy removal.
The group, a watchdog group advocating good governance, said the protest was to show dissatisfaction with the leadership of the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, Mr. Mele Kyari, and also called for his sack.
Briefing newsmen on Sunday in Kaduna, Publicity Secretary of ACWGG, Aminu Abbas, said the recent increase in the pump price of petrol, has led to widespread hunger in Northern part of the country.
Recalling the artificial fuel scarcity in 2022 and early 2023 which led to a build-up of queues in filling stations, he said: “Miraculously, the queues disappeared immediately after the 2023 general elections.
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“The endemic and systemic corruption that the corporation is known for encouraged the racketeering in the defunct subsidy administration which ended up lining the pockets of major marketers with petro-dollars.
“This has further reduced resources available for the usage of the common people,” he said.
He said those behind the scarcity and unwarranted increase in the price of PMS were working against the interest of President Bola Tinubu.
He said: “The dark forces took the fight to another dimension by persuading the then President-elect to announce the removal of the subsidy without carrying out a proper situation analysis.
“This, we believe was done to punish poor Nigerians who willingly voted for President Tinubu.
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“Indeed, Nigerians are serving the artificial punishment which is reminiscent of the hard training our armed forces undergo.
“We are afraid that should the tribunal and Supreme Court Justices order for a rerun election today, we doubt if the president can survive it,” he said.
Further, he said: “We understand that things are very tough for our compatriots.
“They either come out to protest their way to freedom or stay home to acquire stomach ulcer which might lead to their ultimate end,” he said.
He called on security agencies to mobilise their men to give the group the necessary protection, noting that “we will only exercise our inalienable rights to peaceful protest.
