Fuel price hike: Ohanaeze youth blames scarcity on years of mismanagement, exonerates Minister

By Jude Opara, Abuja

As the country continues to groan under the yoke of the effect of the recent hike in fuel price, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Worldwide has said that the Minister of Petroleum Resources is not responsible for the energy crisis.
Acting National Leader of the group, Mazi Chukwuma Okpalaezeukwu in a statement on Friday said the current development was largely caused by several years of bad governance and mismanagement which preceded the present administration.
Okpalaezeukwu who issued the statement after the 52nd Extraordinary National Executive Committee said he is optimistic that the situation will soon change for the best given the economic policies being implemented by the government.
The Ohanaeze youths who also met with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri said the administration is putting in measures to reform the oil sector for the overall interest of the country.
“We have had a fruitful deliberation with the Honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources, Distinguished Senator Heineken Lokpobiri and his Team where we have expressed concerns and emphasized on the need for continuous and unrelenting reforms of the Petroleum Sector with policies that benefit the ordinary people and improve the overall well-being of Nigeria economy.
“We acknowledge the challenges inherent in the Removal of Subsidy and the impact of Infrastructural deficiencies in the Sector, and We are very proud of the uncommon achievements recorded so far by the Tinubu led administration ranging from increase in Crude Oil Production.
”We therefore declare our Solidarity and Support to the genuine efforts and commitment of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and other collaborating agencies and entities especially the NNPCL ably led by Mele Kyari and his Team.
“We advocate for more effective and impactful community and youth engagement and development in ways that shall control restiveness and further address, sabotage, vandalization and theft in the sector; and we shall continue to engage with the Ministry and participate in their various development activities and programmes in order to maximize impact and serve the purpose”.
The Ohanaeze youths equally commended the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) led by Mallam Nuhu Ribadu for the all round Strategic and Comprehensive Engagement of every Sector for National Security and enabling Environment for a Stable and Prosperous Nigeria economy.