The Vice President Of the Federal republic of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo yesterday explained the plight of the President as the nation suffers yet another hike in fuel price.
The Vice President yesterday noted that the President who had always held his ground against increase in fuel price had no other option but to succumb to the increment that was announced last week.
Osinbajo added that the decision is the hardest the President, Muhammadu Buhari has ever made.
The Vice president made this known at the public presentation of Anatomy of Corruption in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges & Solutions, a collection of essays edited by Yusuf O. Ali, (SAN) yesterday.
Explaining the reason behind the increased pump price of fuel, Osinbajo said even if all the four refineries in the country was working at full capacity, they would n=only meet about 40 percent of the demands for domestic consumption.
He said: “If there is one person in Nigeria who believes that petroleum prices should not go up by one naira, it is President Buhari.”
He added, “he was left with no choice. What can we do if we don’t have foreign currency, we have to import fuel?”
Addressing the issue of oil importation and why its end is not feasible, Osinbajo said: “Even if we repair our refineries today, we would still be able to refine 40 percent of our petroleum, so, we still need to import. In the absence of foreign exchange and you have to import your refined petroleum, what are you left with? A lot of the problems associated with the refineries are corruption related, explains why many states are owing salaries and continue to owe salaries.”