The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called for the immediate reversal of the new pump price of petrol effected Wednesday by filling stations owned by the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL)
A statement issued by the NLC president Comrade Joe Ajaero said the hike “will further deepen poverty as production capacities dip, more jobs lost with multidimensional negative effects.”
The statement titled ‘What next after increase in pump price’, sais the government should be bold enough to “tell Nigerians in advance the destination it wants to take the country.”
Read full statement below:
“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.”
