NLC President, Tinubu
By Victory Oghene
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has strongly condemned President Bola Tinubu’s administration for the perpetual fuel price hikes, alleging it’s a deliberate attempt to exacerbate poverty, worsen unemployment, and frustrate Nigerians.
The NLC feels betrayed by the government’s actions, which they believe are counterproductive to the nation’s well-being.
The NLC said this in a statement titled, “What Next After Increase In Pump Price?” issued on Wednesday and signed by its National President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, while reacting to the latest fuel pump price increment by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on Wednesday.
Recall that filling stations owned by the NNPCL across the country on Wednesday hiked the fuel price to N1030 per litre.
The increment comes barely one month after the NNPCL hiked the fuel price to over N850 per litre.
Reacting to the latest fuel price increment, the NLC said the only thing Tinubu’s government is known for is increasing fuel pump price without providing mitigatory measures.
The labour union challenged the Nigerian government to go to the drawing board and present Nigerians with a blueprint for an inclusive economic growth and national development instead of what it described as “spasmodic ad hocism” and palliative policy.
The statement reads, “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 ad hocism 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.”
