Nigerians woke up recently to observe that fuel pump price and electricity tariff have been arbitrarily increased by the Federal Government.
To the astonishment of the consumers who cried loud, the Federal Government said that there is no going back.
Our reporters in Port Harcourt interviewed a Human Rights Activist Fineface Dunamene, who said the development will eventually lead to the increase in prices of goods and services, which will automatically result in an increase in inflation rate.
The Human Right activist further said that this increase is ill-timed and ill-advised, because many Nigerians have not earned an income for months, and some are out of job.
Fineface Dunamene also said that there are so many increases, but salary remains stagnant. ” Fuel prices have increased, electricity tariff has increased. Food prices have increased. Bank charges have also increased. But the salary is stubborn and does not want to increase” he stated.
He further appealed to the Federal Government to consider the economic hardship people are going through in this Corona era, and revert the fuel price. Adding that Nigerians deserve to enjoy basic amenities with ease, as other countries are doing their best to reduce the burden on their citizens.
A legal practitioner Emeka Ojoko in an interview with our reporters said, increasing petrol prices and electricity tariffs in a time the economy is yet to recover from the deadly effects of Covid-19 Pandemic shows that the government is highly insensitive to the suffering of the people. He said instead for the Federal Government to deal with insecurity, they are taking actions that will further heighten insecurity. Adding that as inflation goes up, and more people are plunged into poverty, there would be more conflict in the society.
” The country and indeed the whole world is facing a serious problem right now because of the CoronaVirus pandemic. Dealing with too many increases at the same time will introduce so much inflation. Therefore these increases are not good at all. It is adding salt to injury” he said.
