The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, has described the hike in pump price of petrol by the President Bola Tinubu’s administration, as sadistic and totally unacceptable.
NLC President, Joe Ajaero in a statement in Tuesday, said:
“We woke up this morning to the news that NNPCL has increased the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, from the hitherto draconian N500/L to N617/L despite the suffering and hardship that Nigerians have had to go through as a result of the original hike in May 29, 2023, as part of President Tinubu’s inaugural gift to Nigerians.
“An 18 percent increase in the price of PMS at this time of great difficulties for our people is sadistic and totally unacceptable.
“The NLC considers this the most insensitive and horrendous and smirks of a triumphalism by this government against the masses of this country.
“It looks like a feeling by those in government that the people have become a conquered people that they can treat anyhow they like without repercussions and this demonstrates why it has taken pleasure in inflicting more and more pains and sorrow on the people.
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“We strongly condemn this latest unilateral increase and warn the government to desist from trying the patience of Nigerians.
“What the government has done is capable of pushing Nigerian people to the edge of the precipice and can trigger a raging fire that may overwhelm whatsoever mechanisms the government thinks it has put in place as safeguards.
“It seriously looks like the government is consciously pushing the nation to the brink by this deliberate kindling and fanning of the embers of restiveness amongst the populace.
“There is no other way to understand what is going on but to assume that the drivers of this hike may be intentionally trying to set our nation on fire by courting or pushing the people to take over the streets in anger.
“If that is their intention, we are afraid that they are almost there and we are worried that this may endanger democracy and put our nation in peril.
“It is our responsibility to raise the alarm over what those who occupy the levers of power are doing to Nigerians and what the consequences may be.
“NLC is amazed that a government that pledged to allow the dictates of social dialogue to guide its actions and policies will turn around to undermine same principles of social dialogue which demands that when conversations are undertaken over an issue, the parties stay action and allow the status quo to be maintained.
“This is to allow for the process to run smoothly and unhindered.
“We, therefore, do not understand why the government that has initiated a social dialogue around the petroleum product price hike will turn around in the midst of the conversation to increase the price same product without recourse to the process already set in motion?
“We perceive that the government may not trust or has lost confidence in its intentions for setting up the Presidential Steering Committee and its five sub-committees.
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“You cannot probate and approbate at this same time.
“It is either the government makes up its mind and allow its own very process that it initiated work conclusively to its logical end or come out clean and tell Nigerians that it never believed in the process.
“Once again, the action of the government is forcing us to constructively review our engagement with the government on this vexatious so-called Petroleum subsidy withdrawal.
“We urge the government to quickly take steps to salvage the lives of Nigerians that it is currently nudging towards the periphery of existence.
“The first step must be to return to the old price of N585 so that the people can breathe then, take further steps to allow the Steering Committee it set up to come up with frameworks and workable solutions to resolving the issues around the price hike.
“We shall as soon as possible work in concert with our sister Labour centre and other civil society organisations to seek ways to assist government return to sane dialogue and reasonable actions for workers and people of Nigeria.
“Our Organs would be called soon to deliberate on this one hike too many so that necessary actions would be taken to defend the rights and privileges of Nigerian workers and masses,” he added.
