The Nigeria Labour Congress has condemned the recent nationwide increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit, commonly known as petrol.
The union is demanding an immediate rollback of the hike, accusing the government of prioritizing fuel price increases above all else.
In a statement issued on Wednesday and signed by its president, Joe Ajaero, the NLC called on the government to clarify its intended direction for the country.
Ajaero also criticized the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited for its role in the price increase.
“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 are 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.”
Earlier, some stations of the NNPC in Abuja raised the retail price of petrol to N1,030 from N897 per litre.
