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By Iheanyi Chukwudi
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Organised Private Sector have called for the immediate reversal of the hike in the pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
NLC which strongly condemned the hike in petrol price nationwide, accused the federal government of only focusing on fuel price increments.
Retail stations of NNPC raised the price of petrol to N1,030 from N897/litre in Abuja, and that of Lagos to N998/litre from N868/litre just like other cities nationwide witnessed similar price hikes, a development that has triggered anger among Nigerians.
The fuel pump price hike, the second in one month, represents about 14.8 per cent or N133 rise. It also means that in the less than 17 months of the current administration, the price of petrol has risen by over 430 per cent from May 29, when it took over the reins of power.
This is coming days after the NNPCL said it was heavily constrained by the huge debt it owed international suppliers and decided to terminate its exclusive purchase agreement with Dangote Refinery, giving room for other players downstream to buy products directly from the Dangote Refinery. The debt is estimated to be $6.8bn.
Oil marketers said NNPC’s withdrawal as the sole off-taker of petrol from Dangote refinery meant the Federal Government had systematically stopped subsidy on petrol completely. It also meant the product would be sold to marketers on a willing buyer, willing seller basis.
But NLC, in a statement signed by its president, Joe Ajaero, described the decision of the NNPCL as an aberration.
He said, “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 inclusive economic growth and national development instead of this spasmodic ad holism 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 results. People only got poorer.”
Meanwhile, cost of fares has been raised by drivers and transporters following the petrol price hike by NNPCL and other dealers.
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