The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC has urged the Federal Government to inform Nigerians of the destination it is taking the country in advance following another increase in the Premium Motor Spirit known as fuel.
Speaking on Wednesday in a statement, the NLC President Comrade Joe Ajaero called on FG to reverse the fuel hike as the previous increase did not yield any good results.
The statement made it clear that it has become evident that the increase has affected the financial calculations of Nigerians, exacerbating the already dire economic crisis and deepening poverty rates with numerous negative effects.
His statement reads; “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.”
On Wednesday, the NNPC increased the fuel price from N898 to N998 in Lagos and N1,030 in Abuja and other places following a dispute with Dangote Refinery.
