The Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED) has condemned the World Bank's recent recommendation that the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) should rise to N750 per liter, a move they claim could worsen the economic suffering of millions of Nigerians.
In a statement, CHRICED questioned the rationale behind the World Bank's advice, suggesting that the Bretton Woods institution may be serving more as a lackey for the Nigerian government’s intended PMS price hike rather than an unbiased advisor.
They further posited that the World Bank seems to be advancing an imperialist economic agenda without due consideration of the common Nigerian citizen.
CHRICED's Executive Director, Comrade Ibrahim Mualeem Zikirullahi, said: "The World Bank's proposal, if accepted by the Bola Tinubu administration, will merely impose further suffering and hardship on the Nigerian people.
"It's troubling that an institution that claims to rely on data and evidence for its projections failed to assess the impact of past PMS price hikes before recommending another."
CHRICED also expressed disappointment at the World Bank's silence on the need for Nigeria to boost its local refining capacity to meet domestic energy needs, implying that the global financial institution supports an import-dependent system for PMS supply, which leads to significant capital flight.
Zikirullahi added, "We find it perplexing that the World Bank, while acknowledging that millions of Nigerians have been driven into extreme poverty due to government policies, tacitly supports a move that will undoubtedly exacerbate their economic misery."
CHRICED further challenged the World Bank to pressure the Nigerian government to clarify how past subsidy savings were used, given that the promised benefits from previous PMS price increases remain unrealized.
The organization called on multilateral stakeholders to support the push for government accountability, efficiency, and effective use of public resources, rather than help facilitate policies that would economically suffocate ordinary Nigerians.
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