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The All Progressives Congress has accused the Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government of acting out a clandestine script to increase fuel prices through the back door.

It alleged that the ongoing nation-wide fuel scarcity might have been induced to make higher fuel prices a fait accompli for Nigerians.

In a statement in Lagos on Tuesday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the fact that the scarcity had persisted despite the claims and counter-claims by the government and the oil markers, and the measures purportedly taken by the government to ameliorate the situation, was the clearest indication of official deception.

APC said, The more fuel trucks the government claims to have sent to major cities to ease the scarcity, the more difficult it is for Nigerians to obtain the product. This is an old trick and Nigerians should not be hoodwinked into believing there will be no increase in fuel prices. The only deterrent is to let the government know Nigerians will resist any price hike.

The truth is that with the elections approaching, the PDP-led FG is desperately seeking all possible avenues to raise funds for its usual electoral shenanigans, and increasing fuel prices has always been an attractive option to the government, not minding what the impact will be on the same people it has impoverished since 1999.

APC said the lingering scarcity had forced many Nigerians to pay as much as N120 for a litre of fuel, which, the party alleged, was the benchmark the FG had fixed.

The next refrain from the government will be that only higher prices will guarantee the availability of the product, and that many marketers are unwilling to import the product because of low profit margin. We urge Nigerians not to swallow this bait, the party said.

It commended the Nigeria Labour Congress for its timely warning against any plan to hike fuel prices, saying the Jonathan administrations assurances that fuel prices would not be increased could not be relied on.

The big deception of 2012, when the government slammed a massive price hike on Nigerians on New Years day despite assurances to the contrary, is still too fresh in the memories of Nigerians. The same people who inflicted that pain on Nigerians are still in charge, so no one should trust them, APC warned.

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FG plotting to hike fuel prices -APC

The All Progressives Congress, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to visit Yobe to commiserate with the families of students of Federal Government College, Bunu-Yadi killed by the Boko Haram insurgents on Feb. 24.

This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Lai Mohammed the Interim National Publicity Secretary of the party and made available to newsmen in Abuja on Monday.

He said that the Presidents visit to the scene of the incident would give succour to families of the students, and assure them that government had not abandoned them.

He added that it would also be a morale booster to the troops securing lives and property in the North-East region.

The party spokesman said the visit could be likened to what other world leaders usually do in similar situations.

President Barack Obama of the U.S. flew to Tennessee, where he spoke at a high school where students were still reeling over the shooting of one of their classmates in January.

Also, in 2012, President Obama paid a similar visit to Newtown in Connecticut, where he met the relatives of the 20 schoolchildren and eight adults who were shot, he said.

Mohammed said that the president should not give the impression that there was any part of the country he could not visit, which could suggest victory to the terrorists in the North-East.

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APC urges Jonathan to visit Yobe

Interim National Publicity Secretary, All Progressives Congress, Lai Mohammed

The All Progressives Congress has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to take time off his premature campaign to visit Yobe State to commiserate with bereaved families of the innocent schoolchildren who were murdered by terrorists last month.

The party said it was inconceivable that about two weeks after the killings of more than 29 schoolchildren, the President had not deemed it fit to visit the state.

This was contained in a statement by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Lagos on Monday.

According to the APC, a visit by the President will provide succour to the families of the victims, reassure them as well as residents of the state, that their government has not abandoned them to their fate.

The party also said such a visit would also boost the morale of troops battling the terrorists.

The party said, There is no other democracy in the world in which that number of schoolchildren will be killed and the head of government will carry on with business as usual.

Since the killings, President Jonathan has made a national broadcast in which he mentioned the killings only as a footnote, instead of making it the central point of the broadcast.

Since the killings, the President has presided over a wasteful national celebration, in which the drums were rolled out to mark the countrys centenary even as devastated families were still mourning and those injured were reeling from their pains.

The party also observed that since the killings, President Jonathan had been gallivanting across the country, surreptitiously kick-starting his campaign for 2015.

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Visit Yobe attack victims, APC tells Jonathan

The All Progressives Congress has restated its call on President Goodluck Jonathan to take time off his electioneering campaign to visit Yobe State to commiserate with the bereaved families of the innocent schoolchildren, who were brutally murdered by terrorists in February.

It said far from being a mere formality, such a visit would provide great succour to the families of the victims, reassure them and other residents of the state that their government had not abandoned them to their fate, and also serve as a morale booster for the gallant troops, who are battling the terrorists, against all odds.

APC said, There is no other democracy in the world in which that number of schoolchildren will be killed and the head of government will carry on with business as usual. Since the killings, President Jonathan has made a national broadcast in which he mentioned the killings only as a footnote, instead of making it the central point of the broadcast.

Since the killings, the President has presided over a wasteful national celebration, in which the drums were rolled out to mark the countrys centenary even as devastated families were still mourning and those injured were reeling from their pains.

Since the killings, President Jonathan has been gallivanting across the country, surreptitiously kick-starting his electioneering campaign for 2015 under the guise of receiving some inconsequential political jobbers now wearing the tag of defectors. This junketing has taken the President everywhere, including Sokoto, Minna, Ilorin and Onitsha. But he has pointedly avoided Yobe. To put it mildly, the father of the nation has been practically dancing on the graves of those innocent souls. This is not the stuff of leadership and the President must make amends by visiting Yobe today.

The party said Jonathan should take a cue from what obtainedin other lands, especially in the US after which Nigeria has modelled its democracy.

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Jonathan must visit Yobe over pupils killing -APC

The opposition All Progressives Congress on Sunday accused President Goodluck Jonathan of toying with issues and projects that concerned the Igbo people of the South-East.

The APC allegation came ahead of the inauguration of the second Niger Bridge on Monday (today).

The party spoke through its spokesperson in the South-East zone, Mr. Osita Okechukwu.

Okechukwu said that whereas the APC was in favour of the immediate construction of the second Niger Bridge, the party frowned that the project was not being directly funded by the Federal Government.

The party recalled that the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe, penultimate week at his palace, challenged the President for reneging on his promise during the 2011 presidential campaign to inaugurate the second Niger Bridge.

The APC statement read, We are at a loss why President Jonathan, three years down the line, after making the promise to complete the construction of the much-treasured second Niger Bridge, never deemed it fit to include it in any of his national budgets.

Accordingly, it is our candid view that the debt tilts more in favour of President Jonathans political campaign slush fund; because if the second Niger Bridge has found its way into any of President Jonathans national budget, Nigeria could have saved over N70bn through competitive bidding.

For is it not a paradox that Lagos State government awarded 1.3km Epe-Lekki bridge of similar status to Julius Berger Plc and completed it at N29bn, while the same company without competitive bid got 1.8km second Niger Bridge at N117bn, a whopping difference of N88bn?

APC South-East, regrettably, observes a trend where Ndigbo has become a toy to play with on President Jonathans hand. As he seems to have forgotten too early in the day that Ndigbo sacrificed our turn to be president of Nigeria in the nearest future on his altar, hence unwittingly created unsavoury relationship between Ndigbo and their contemporaries in the Nigerian political landscape.

The party noted that the President had inaugurated with fanfare a non-operational Onitsha seaport, where no vessel had landed up to date.

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APC says Jonathan is toying with Ndigbo