Against the backdrop of the recent hike in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit also known as petrol, leading opposition figures have called on President Bola Tinubu to think outside the box and come up with a measure to cushion the hardship currently being experienced by Nigerians or risk their wrath.
Speaking exclusively with Sunday PUNCH, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress in the 2023 election, Dumebi Kachikwu advised the Federal Government to come up with more pro-people palliative, rather than the proposed N8,000 earmarked for distribution to 12 million families for a period of six months.
He said, “Nigerians should not suffer for the failure of government not being able to manage the subsidy process. What the President should have done was to have suspended subsidy temporarily and put in place a process that is not abused by the people.
“The last cash transfer by the Muhammadu Buhari government was abused and I expected this government to have come up with a better plan. In Nigeria, N8,000 each to 12 million people cannot do anything.
“Palliatives ought not to have come after the removal of subsidy. It should have been factored in before subsidy removal. Nigerians have been suffering for the past two months.”
In his contribution, the National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Shehu Gabam, urged the government to adopt a creative thinking approach to the current situation in the country to avert what he called ‘the looming anarchy.’
“This government must be very creative in its thinking, otherwise we will run into a crisis, the like of which we have not seen in recent times. He must work to stop the looming anarchy. People are in serious pain, and this is the truth of the matter.
“Last month, a bag of maize sold for N60, 000. Some poultry farms have shut down just because of this and this means the poultry sector is gradually being killed,” Gabam said.
Taking a rather spiritual stand, the former governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, said Nigerians desirous of seeing a solution to the current reality must seek the face of their maker in prayers.
