It's time to protest high petrol prices-Activists***Nigeria

The Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) has vowed to launch protests, should the government fail to address unregulated fuel pump prices across the country.

The Chairman of CSNAC, Mr. Olarewaju Suraju, who spoke in Lagos yesterday, said other groups had been put on the alert, in case the Federal Government removes fuel subsidy.

Besides, he declared December 9, which is the International Anti-Corruption Day, as the “Yellow Flag Day Against Corruption in Nigeria.

The CSNAC is a coalition of over 150 anti-corruption organisations whose aim is to combat corruption and monitor the anti-graft agencies.

Suraju decried scarcity of petroleum products across the country for about two months with no explanation from the government, adding that it is a conspiracy to force another price hike on Nigerians.

Mr. Suraju said: “In several filling stations across the country, the pump prices of petrol are higher than the official pump price, without any explanation by the government. The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), under the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, is responsible for inspection and control of filling stations, but it has not acted against the increases by marketers.

“For CSNAC, this indicates a conspiracy on the part of the government to force another price hike on the people, which will increase hardship.

“We are for this reason, beginning strategic network with stakeholders to mark the anniversary of the January 2012 uprising, with a repeat of civil disobedience, if the trend of fuel scarcity and arbitrary price fixing is not reversed by the government.

“An x-ray of the oil and gas sector has shown the level of scandalous, monumental and shameful corruption in the sector. The culture of impunity and conspiracy, which this present administration displays, provides the added impetus for perpetuating the graft that has become the trade mark of the sector.”

The group, which also x-rayed the judiciary and other sectors, noted that corruption remains a major hindrance to development in the country, adding that the problem of corruption lies inside ‘Aso Rock’ and with the cronies or associates of those in power across the three tiers of government.