A coalition of Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, on Friday said it would resist planned increase in the price of petroleum being allegedly worked on by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN.
The CSOs made their position known in a statement jointly signed by the Convener, Dr Basil Musa; and Co-Convener, Malam Haruna Maigida, in Abuja on behalf of others.
Others who signed the statement were officials of Oil and Gas Transparency and Advocacy Group, Civil Society Coalition for Economic Development, CED, Centre for Citizens Rights, Centre for Good Governance Advocacy and Action against Corruption in Nigeria, among several others.
The CSOs said that information reaching them was to the effect that IPMAN was planning to increase petrol price to N700 per litre, a move which they vowed to resist by picketing IPMAN members’ filling stations across the country.
They accused the IPMAN of running a parallel government and inflicting pains on ordinary Nigerians by their unilateral adjustment of price of petroleum.
They described the planned increment as unacceptable and called on the Federal Government to stop IPMAN from its alleged profiteering at the expense of ordinary Nigerians.
The CSOs said the move was an economic sabotage, coming at a time Nigerians are still trying to come out of the “price shock”, occasioned by the increment on May 29.
They said that Nigerians were already passing through difficult times over the recently adjusted fuel pump price with no palliatives measures yet in place.
They vowed to mobilise their members and other stakeholders across the 36 states of the federation to embark on a protest, adding that the protest would target at shutting down filling stations nationwide.
They added that Nigerians could not afford to be railroaded by IPMAN, in alleged contraction of the position of Federal Government on petroleum price.
