2023: “You Will Never Have To Wait In Queues For Fuel Again,” Atiku Delivers Christmas Message To Nigerians

Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, promised Nigerians on Friday that if they voted for him in the next election in February, they wouldn’t have to wait in gas line queues for Christmas in 2023.

Atiku made the promise in his Christmas message released in Abuja on Christmas Eve, by Phrank Shaibu, his special assistant for public information.

He said, “Atiku Abubakar hereby promises Nigerians that this will be their last Christmas that will be spent at a filling station queuing for petrol. Voting for APC in February will be a reinforcement of failure which could push Nigeria into an existential crisis. To Nigerians, we say the ability to change your destiny lies in your hands. Merry Christmas.

“With the fuel scarcity now continuing till December, the government has run out of excuses even as most Nigerians are now at the mercy of black marketers who sell petrol as high as N500 per litre. The NNPC which is the sole importer of petrol has failed to live up to its duties, clear evidence that its privatisation is merely cosmetic.

“But the biggest culprit in this mess is President Muhammadu Buhari who is the minister of petroleum. It is saddening that he has failed to bring succour to Nigerians who are suffering from worsening inflation, unemployment and insecurity.

“It is disheartening that a country that claims to spend $40m daily on petrol subsidy cannot still make the product available to its people. This is clear evidence that the monies are going into private pockets ahead of elections at the expense of Nigerians.

“The APC which is running for a third term through the person of Bola Ahmed Tinubu is now promising renewed hope after dashing the hopes of millions of Nigerians for the last eight years.

“It is exasperating that Tinubu is promising to remove petrol subsidy when his party has retained it for the last seven years and spent billions of dollars subsidising criminality. It is obvious that Tinubu’s statement is an indictment of Buhari.

“Nigerians have suffered too much in these last seven years. A country which has been unable to meet its OPEC quota at a time of oil boom is now witnessing an unprecedented petrol scarcity that has brought economic activities to its knees across the country.”

He continued, “The regime of the All Progressives Congress had set a new record of the longest petrol scarcity in the history of Nigeria.

“The petrol scarcity started in January 2022 on account of the importation of dirty petrol high in methanol, with the
Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, Mele Kyari, explained at the time that the petrol was brought in from Belgium.

“The House of Representatives led by Femi Gbajabiamila opened a probe into the matter but nothing has been heard about the investigation to date. This is not surprising since it is an APC affair.”