President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, has kicked against any plan by the federal government to increase in the pump price of petrol.
Recall that the group managing director of the Nigerian National Petrol Corporation (NNPC), Engr. Mele Kyari had disclosed that the federal government may be forced to increase the price of petrol again.
He made the disclosure during a statehouse press briefing on Thursday.
According to him, it no longer makes sense for NNPC to import petrol at market price and sell at N162 per litre. He added further that the actual market price should be between N211 and N234 per litre.
The NNPC boss stated that the government can no longer bear the burden of the difference between the actual market price and what Nigerians are paying for petrol.
Reacting in an interview with Daily Trust, Ayuba Wabba said another increase in pump price would be too much for Nigerians to bear because of geometric increase of unemployment and inflation rate.
He said: “At this point in time, Nigerians cannot accommodate any price increase or fluctuation because already, many Nigerians have been impoverished occasioned by COVID-19 and economic downturn. We just came out of recession.
“Importantly, we have seen the statistics on unemployment and inflation. It means those statistics will be doubled if we go in that direction.
“The primary purpose of government is to continue to make sure that citizens don’t suffer the consequences of what they have not bargained for.
“As we speak, with the increment in tariff, energy is still being subsidized. We have shared that document very widely – a commission report by the NLC.”
When asked about the labour’s next line of action if the government goes ahead to actualise its plan, Wabba said, “Our position is very clear, once that happens, certainly we are going to consult our people to know the next line of action.
“Once it reaches the level of going for a showdown, we will consult our organs and roll out what we need to engage them on.”
