Fuel Hike: NLC demands price reversal, warns against worsening poverty, job losses

*Comrade Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, urges the Federal Government to reverse the latest N1,030 petrol price increase, arguing the fuel hike has worsened poverty, and offered ‘no tangible benefits’ to the West African country’s economy

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has asked the Federal Government to reverse the latest increase in petrol prices.

Comrade Joe Ajaero, President of NLC, who made the demand for an immediate action to revert to the old petrol price in a statement titled, “What Next After Increase In Pump Price?”, issued Wednesday, October 9, 2024, said the price increment had worsened poverty across the country, and offered no tangible benefits to the economy.

The statement noted: “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.”

The Labour Union also stated: “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.”

Ajaero as well said that the latest wave of increase had “grossly altered the calculations of Nigerians”, once again, at a time they were reluctantly coming to terms with their new realities.

According to NLC, this petrol price increment would further deepen poverty as production capacities dip, more jobs lost with multidimensional negative effects.

ConsumerConnect reports the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Wednesday announced the new petrol price of N1,030 per litre for its retail outlets, in Abuja, FCT, whereas several filling stations in Lagos were selling the commodity at N998 per litre.

Full deregulation as independent marketers sell PMS N1,200─N1,300 in Lagos

Checks evening Wednesday, October 9 at a few locations in Lagos State revealed that some independent marketers, who hitherto had sold the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, between N900 and N1,000 to energy consumers earlier in the day, began to sell the petroleum product at higher prices between N1,200 and N1,300 after the NNPCL effected the price change at its retail outlets.

Several energy consumers equally believe that sudden increase in petrol price must have resulted from the NNPCL’s official withdrawal from its “exclusive role” as the sole petrol buyer from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, located in Lagos.

It also noted that the latest development describes market-reflective pricing that ultimately would ensure “stability in the downstream petroleum sector of the Nigerian economy, as some said this had been central to the Federal Government’s pricing strategy all along.

Close sources equally, disclosed that in view of the Nigerian Government’s full deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 now, both the NNPCL as the state oil firm and other players in the sector would operate to ensure “affordability and availability of petroleum products” for Nigerian energy consumers.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress, in the statement, has said “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.”