The Nigeria Labour Congress has rejected the latest price hike by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation to immediately withdraw its new template for premium motor spirit, PMS, describing the national oil firm’s action as against the tenets of deregulation.
The NNPC had on Wednesday morning released a new PMS price template, which pegged the price of petrol at N998 in Lagos, and up to N1,050 in other parts of the country, including Calabar and far north.
In a swift reaction to the new template, prices of PMS rose by as much as 30% to about N1,398 per litre in Port Harcourt, with reports indicating that some stations in eastern states were selling for up to N1,500 per litre.
Reacting to the latest increase in pump price, NLC President, Mr Joe Ajaero, in a press statement on Wednesday, said it was wrong for the NNPC to be the sole decision maker for fuel prices when the market has been purported opened to the dictate of market forces.
NLC President, Joe Ajaero asks NNPC to Revert to Old Price
In a statement titled, “What next after increase in pump price?” the NLC said, “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 the 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 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, and 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. But more fundamentally, the government should be bold enough to tell Nigerians in advance the destination it wants to take the country.”
