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<\/p>\nProtesters shutdown Kaduna, ask Tinubu to crush saboteurs frustrating local refining<\/p>\n
Thousands of Nigerians under the banner of Partners for National Economic Progress (PANEP) on Monday shutdown Kaduna city in protest, calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to crush those sabotaging efforts to achieve local refining of petroleum products.<\/p>\n
The protesters, who converged on the Murtala Mohammed Square before marching through major streets of the city, accused a powerful oil cartel of frustrating Nigeria\u2019s economic progress by undermining local refinery initiatives, particularly the Dangote Refinery.<\/p>\n
Chanting solidarity songs and displaying placards with inscriptions such as \u201cSupport Local Refining,\u201d \u201cCrush Economic Saboteurs,\u201d and \u201cProtect Dangote Refinery,\u201d the protesters described the struggle as one to free the country from decades of economic manipulation.<\/p>\n
Two of the group Leaders, Comrade Igwe Ude-Umanta and Comrade Dahiru Umar Maishanu, said the call on the President was necessary to save Nigeria from a cartel that has thrived on importation and fuel scarcity at the expense of national development.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not about Dangote alone; it\u2019s about Nigeria\u2019s economic survival. Mr. President must rise to the occasion and stamp his feet. He must crush those sabotaging our march toward self-reliance in refining.\u201d Ude-Umanta declared.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The PANEP leader said the protest, themed \u201cNational Unity Against Sabotage: Reclaiming Our Petroleum Sector for the People,\u201d was part of a nationwide campaign to defend local refining from \u201ceconomic terrorists\u201d determined to keep Nigeria dependent on importation.<\/p>\n
He accused some oil unions and importers of colluding with foreign interests to frustrate the Dangote Refinery, warning that failure to act decisively could discourage future investors. \u201cIf they succeed in killing Dangote Refinery, no investor will ever bring money here again,\u201d he cautioned.<\/p>\n
Ude-Umanta described the recent actions of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) as \u201ceconomic terrorism,\u201d saying the union\u2019s alleged disruption of refinery operations was part of a larger plot to destabilise local refining efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat PENGASSAN did was not unionism\u2014it was sabotage,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Federal Government should have arrested their leadership to deter others. No one should hide under the guise of labour activism to commit crimes against the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
He urged President Tinubu, who also serves as Minister of Petroleum Resources, to ensure that local refineries such as Dangote\u2019s are given crude oil at the same price sold to foreign refineries to sustain their operations and boost investor confidence.<\/p>\n
On his part, Maishanu said the protest was a patriotic call to end decades of economic enslavement. \u201cHow can importers compete with producers? They are scared because local refining will expose their fraud and end their control over fuel pricing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He alleged that the cartel was deliberately blocking the sale of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Aviation Turbine Kerosene (Jet A1) from local producers to maintain inflated market prices. \u201cThey are punishing Nigerians to protect their greed,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The group commended Dangote Refinery for its inpact on the domestic fuel market, noting that prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) have already begun to drop. \u201cNigerians are beginning to breathe fresh air from this refining revolution,\u201d Maishanu said.<\/p>\n
He urged the President to remain firm in his economic reform agenda, saying the refinery\u2019s success was a test of his commitment to national industrial revival. \u201cThis is the time to prove that local investors matter,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n
The rally, which ended peacefully, echoed with chants of \u201cLong live Dangote Refinery! Long live Nigeria!\u201d as protesters vowed continued nationwide mobilisation until, in their words, \u201cevery saboteur of Nigeria\u2019s economic progress is crushed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Protesters shutdown Kaduna, ask Tinubu to crush saboteurs frustrating local refining Thousands of Nigerians under the banner of Partners for National Economic Progress (PANEP) on Monday shutdown Kaduna city in protest, calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to crush those sabotaging efforts to achieve local refining of petroleum products. The protesters, who converged on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":24054,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"yoast_head":"\n