Fuel subsidy removal: This is just a tip of the iceberg of pains to come

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The opposition Peoples Democratic Party {PDP} has reacted to the declaration of President Bola Tinubu that “subsidy is gone” and the attendant hardship that heralded the declaration, calling on Nigerians to brace up for more pains in the months ahead.

According to the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, while speaking with newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, the PDP warned citizens of what awaited them should the All Progressives Congress {APC} win the 2023 presidential polls

The party also said it was not surprised by the development because Tinubu, during his electioneering campaigns, promised to sustain the legacies of former president Muhammadu Buhari.

He said: “There is nothing to say anymore that we have not said. Bola Tinubu said he was going to continue with the policies of Muhammadu Buhari, which are policies of pain, anguish, sorrow, suffering, disregard for human lives and insensitivity. It is Biblical in that a man said ‘My father chastised you with a whip, I will chastise you with scorpions. Scorpions are more deadly than a whip.’

“Buhari has done his part and Tinubu has come to continue with the same agenda which is for personal aggrandizement. What are the legacies of Buhari? Insecurity, disunity, dislocation, poor living conditions and reduced life expectancy of Nigerians.

“We are hoping that Nigerians are still praying for an end to this. This is not about PDP or APC but about Nigerians. We warned about this and now, we are all feeling the heat. The new petrol pump price does not know APC or PDP”, Ologunagba said.

The PDP spokesman also took a swipe at the immediate former president for his role in mobilizing Nigerians against the planned, gradual phase-out of the subsidy regime when the PDP was in power.

“In 2012 when the then government of Goodluck Jonathan mooted the idea of a gradual phase-out of petroleum subsidy and presented a roadmap of how to go about it, it was Buhari who mobilized Nigerians to ground the country. Now, those who participated in that ‘Operation Ground Nigeria’ have lost their voices and we hope they will be permanently silent,” he added.

Describing the increment in the pump price of petrol as inhuman, Ologunagba said further: “How do you explain a price hike from N195 to N537? That is almost a 400 per cent increase. This is only the tip of the iceberg!

“We told Nigerians that there would be more taxes, more pain. What is the purpose of government if not the security and welfare of the people? If you are going to bring about a policy that will affect them, there must be an engagement.

“I give you an example: In the early 2000s, in a county in the United Kingdom, they were going to increase bus fares from 25 pence to 30 pence. They had one year to debate it with the people. People were asked, ‘What is the level of your income?’ The people were part of the conversation and that is the way to go in a decent society. Here, we are close to a state of nature, and it is unfortunate.”