In a push to justify his boss' decision to end fuel subsidy amid public outrage, spokesperson for President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu, told Nigerians that under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) administration, fuel was sold as high as ₦600/litre.
Shehu tweeted this alongside the front page of a newspaper from Easter Sunday in 2013, in response to PDP claiming citizens may not survive the increment in electricity tariffs and price of Petrol due to extreme poverty in the country.
Don't allow the PDP to deceive you. Amidst acute shortages, they sold petrol at N600 per litre on Easter Sunday in 2013 (See Punch published on that day). pic.twitter.com/W58V2ZwVy6— Garba Shehu (@GarShehu) September 8, 2020
However, Shehu Garba wrote: “Don’t allow the PDP to deceive you. Amidst acute shortages, they sold petrol at N600 per litre on Easter Sunday in 2013 (See Punch published on that day).”
The federal government through the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), recently increased the ex-depot price of petrol from ₦138.62 to ₦151.56 per litre.
Petrol marketers subsequently increased the price of the product from ₦148 to between ₦158 and ₦162 per litre.
Meanwhile, in a recent statement through Malam Garba Shehu, Buhari said history would remember him as the president who embarked on a transformation of the national economy for the general good of the citizens.
The President said there is nothing unusual about his decision to end fuel subsidy. He said he was simply courageous enough to do what past administrations made much noise about, but failed to do.