A former chieftain of the Labour Party (LP), Kenneth Okonkwo, has advocated a reduction in the price of petrol in Nigeria to make it affordable for citizens.
Okonkwo argued that there is nothing to celebrate about the resumption of activities in the nation’s refineries if oil is not affordable by Nigerians.
The lawyer cum actor who made the submission in a post via his X account on Sunday, submitted that a reduction in the cost of fuel would lead to an automatic reduction in the prices of food and other items, translating to a reduction in inflation and cost of living.
He also called for the privatization of government-owned refineries as a way to achieve efficiency in the oil industry.
“There’s absolutely nothing to rejoice about the resumption of the refineries until the price of fuel is affordable to the average Nigerian which will bring down the cost of transportation and reduce the cost of production which will translate to reduced prices for food and other items thereby bringing down the inflation and cost of living.
“Nigerians are dying of hunger and hardship and we can produce and refine our way out of poverty with the termination of corruption in the oil industry, and the privatisation of the refineries to ensure saturation of the system with supplies and breaking of monopoly which will ensure competition amongst the practitioners in the oil industry,” he wrote.
