20th January, 2022
Former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (Rtd) has warned the Federal Government against increasing fuel price, saying it would push millions of Nigerians into poverty.
He spoke at the 19th Daily Trust Dialogue in Abuja on Thursday.
He lamented that insecurity in the country is worsened by the nation’s economic situation, as unemployment and underemployment remained at the high level.
Abubakar added that over 18 million Nigerians were still caught up in needless poverty and that all of these tended to have negative effects on security.
The former head of state said Nigeria now faced a full security crisis that is confounded by the COVID-19 global pandemic and the banditry in many states in Northern Nigeria.
According to him, most of these have disrupted the final value change across the country and negatively impacted the ability of Nigeria to produce, process, and distribute.
Abubakar stated that there is a continuous rise in the prices of food items beyond the reach of many Nigerians and that on top of all these, fuel prices were expected to rise significantly in the coming months as announced last November.
“We all know that when this happens, it will push many millions of Nigerians into poverty,” he said.
He added that Nigeria is once again at crossroads, as insecurity remained the single, most difficult challenges for the country.
“The Boko Haram insurgency in the North East, banditry in the North West, violence in the South East, kidnappings and abductions of travelers across many states all continue to fester in the land,” he said.