Published October 10, 2024
By Chinwendu Eugene
The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, on Wednesday asked the federal government to reverse the latest petrol price hike.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had raised the pump price of the product in Abuja from N897 per litre to N1, 030; from N855 to N998 in Lagos; N1, 070 in North-East; N1,025 in other South-West states; N1,045 in South-East and N1,075 in South-South.
In a statement, the NLC through its president, Ajaero, demanded for the immediate reversal of the petrol price hike, saying it is illogical that a private firm is the one determining the prices of the products.
He wondered why the government continued to jack up the price of petrol virtually every month when the new minimum wage was yet to be implemented.
He stated: “We are dismayed by the latest increase in the pump price of petrol. It looks like the only thing this government is known for is increase in the pump price of petrol without commensurate capacity of Nigerians or mitigatory measures.
“Even following the logic of market forces, we find it an aberration that a private company (NNPCL) is the one fixing prices and projecting itself as a hegemonic monopoly.
“We challenge the government to go to the drawing board and present us with a blueprint for an inclusive economic growth and national development instead of this spasmodic adhocism and palliative policy.
“It needs no stating the fact that the latest wave of increase has grossly altered the calculations of Nigerians once again at a time they were reluctantly coming to terms with their new realities.
“It will further deepen poverty as production capacities dip, more jobs lost with multidimensional negative effects.
“In light of this, we urge the government to immediately reverse this rate hike as previous increases did not produce any good result. People only got poorer.
“But more fundamentally, the government should be bold enough to tell Nigerians in advance the destination it wants to take the country,” the labour leader said.
Later at the unveiling of a book titled ‘The Tripartite: Understanding the Interplay between Workers, Employers and Government’, authored by Sharon Ijasan, Ajaero asked Nigerians to react in unison against the latest fuel price hike, saying they should not leave the battle to labour alone.
“I think it’s important we understand it, and it’s important for those in government to realise that governance is not just about increase in pump price of petroleum products. It appears that every morning people come out and increase, increase. Is that all about governance?”, he queried.
He further said: “Now, if I respond on what we are going to do as a labour movement, would that translate to what Nigerians will do to respond to this? Nigerians are expecting the labour movement to react to this hike.
“But, the issue at stake is more than labour movement because we are trying to look at it vis-a-vis N70,000 which was given to workers”, he said.
Still speaking on the issue, the NLC president said: “We’ve had agreements on looking at the issue of CNG (Compressed Natural Gas). The impact on it today is not there. We have had agreement on the issue of Port Harcourt refinery functioning. It’s not functioning today.”
