Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED) has condemned the World Bank’s projection, which recently stated that the cost reflective price of petrol should be N750 per liter. In a statement by its Executive Director, Comrade Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi, the group described the proposal as an imperialist policy aimed to destabilize Nigeria and undermine its economy.
CHRICED further described the World Bank’s advice as insensitive and harmful to the Nigerian people, who are already suffering from the economic policies of the Bola Tinubu administration.
“It appears that the Nigerian government may have found a lackey in the World Bank, and is using their advice as a means to justify yet another planned increase in the price of petrol.”
Zikirullahi was reacting to a speech by the World Bank’s Lead Economist for Nigeria, Alex Sienaert, who said on Thursday that the current price of petrol does not reflect its true cost. Sienaert claimed that N750 per liter would be the appropriate price for petrol to reflect its true cost.
Zikirullahi said the projection, if implemented by the government would worsen the plight of millions of Nigerians.
“For us at CHRICED, this is yet another instance of one of the Bretton Woods institutions offering advice, that would advance its imperialist economic agenda, while heaping more woes on the Nigerian people who are already reeling from the insensitive policies of the Bola Tinubu administration,” he said.
The frontline civil society activist accused the World Bank of ignoring the need for Nigeria to revamp its local refining capacity, which would reduce the dependence on imported petrol and save foreign exchange.
“Any patriotic Nigerian would have expected that an institution with as much information as the World Bank would have spoken on the need for Nigeria to revamp its local refining capacity in order to meet its domestic energy needs. Does this mean that the World Bank is comfortable with the current wasteful and extravagant model in which Nigeria spends billions of scarce foreign exchange on importing petrol, which could be locally refined?” he asked.
Zikirullahi also pointed out that Nigerians have not experienced any of the supposed benefits promised by the government following the previous increase in the price of petrol. He said that numerous promises made to the Labour Movement and Nigerians by the government remain unfulfilled.
“An impartial observer would expect the World Bank, an institution that relies on ‘data and evidence’ for projections, to assess the impact of previous petrol price hikes before recommending another round of increment. CHRICED also anticipates that the World Bank, as an objective analyst of Nigeria’s struggling economy, would urge the Nigerian authorities to clarify how they utilized the savings from previous subsidy removal for important programs and policies. If these savings were properly utilized, as claimed by the government, they should have alleviated the suffering and hardship faced by the people,” he said.
He added that the World Bank proposal was perplexing, given that the Bank’s statistics show that the Nigerian government’s harsh and repressive policies have forced millions of Nigerians into extreme poverty. He said that the World Bank was tacitly supporting a rise in the price of petrol, which would only aggravate Nigerians’ economic misery.
“This idea, regardless of its rationale or justification, would only aggravate Nigerians’ economic misery, and is therefore distressing, vexatious and an instigation towards chaos if embraced by the Tinubu government,” he said.
Comrade Zikirullahi concluded by saying that all manner of imperialist admonition are not needed by Nigerians. Rather, he said what Nigerians need from their multilateral stakeholders is the support to pressure the government to cut down the cost of governance, and to be accountable, efficient, and effective in its use of public resources.
“For a government that has shown more interest in spending scarce public funds on the lavish and luxurious tastes of the elite, to the detriment of welfare and wellbeing of the ordinary citizens, our international partners should not enable such a government to further squeeze and suffocate the people economically,” he said.
