The
Nigeria Labour Congress has accused the Federal Government of surreptitious
moves to increase the pump price of petroleum products in the country.
Representatives of the NLC on Friday
warned the FG against the move vowing to resist it.
They said that any move to increase
the fuel pump price would aggravate the hardship being suffered by Nigerians,
saying it is unacceptable.
The acting General Secretary of the
NLC, Olusegun Rotimi, said in a statement that the NLC was prepared to call out
Nigerians to resist any price increase, which he noted was inimical to the
economic wellbeing of Nigerians.
He said this in reaction to the
current scarcity of petroleum products in parts of the country; a situation
that had caused motorists to waste man hours queuing up to get the products.
The NLC said, “In several fuel
stations across the country, prices of petrol in particular are higher than the
official pump price without any control by government.
“The Department of Petroleum
Resources, DPR, under the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, is
responsible for inspection and control of fuel stations and has not acted in
anyway against unilateral price increases by marketers.
“For us, this indicates a clear
conspiracy on the part of government to force another price hike on Nigerians.
This will sure deepen the economic hardships the current official price has
unleashed on our people.
“The NLC will never accept any further
price increase. And we will mobilise workers and their allies against any such
increase.”
Similarly, the Action Congress of
Nigeria has accused the FG of raising the price of petrol through the back door
by creating artificial scarcity, thus making Nigerians to pay more than the
official price.
In a statement issued by its National
Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed on Friday, the party said that after
the government’s anti-people policy of raising the price of petrol was rejected
earlier this year, it had resorted to “underhand tactics” to increase the
price.
It said since the orchestrated
scarcity started several months ago, Nigerians have been paying between N110 to
N130 per litre in Lagos at filling stations and higher than that at the black
market.
The ACN said, “For example, in the
capital city of Abuja, 10 litres of fuel goes for 2,500 at the black market,
representing 250 naira per litre. For motorists who are unable to withstand the
painfully-long queues in the few filling stations selling the product, this is
the only way to keep their vehicles running.
“By failing to clamp down on the
filling stations selling at prices higher than the official rate, and by not
ensuring the availability of the product nationwide, the administration of
President Goodluck Jonathan has simply rammed a price increase down the throats
of Nigerians.
“This governance by deceit, a hallmark
of the PDP-led Federal Government, is sure to make life more difficult for
Nigerians, most of whom provide their own electricity through generators that
are powered by petrol. The high fuel cost is also having a bandwagon effect on
the cost of goods and services.’’
Meanwhile, our correspondent in Ibadan
reported that residents of Oyo State have been groaning because of the scarcity
of Premium Motor Spirit, resulting in long queues at some petrol stations.
In many of the petrol stations where
the product was available on Friday, PMS was sold for between N200 and N250 per
litre; against the initial unofficial N110 per litre.
The product, according to the
Petroleum Pricing Regulatory Authority, is still officially being sold for N97
per litre.
Many of the petrol stations visited on
Friday by our correspondent were shut due to unavailability and hoarding of the
product.
In Iwo Road/Ojoo Express,
Dugbe-Challenge and other parts of the city, there were traffic snarls as a
result of long queues at petrol stations.
Some residents of Oyo town complained
of shortage in supply of the product. Where fuel was available, it was sold for
N250 per litre.
Commuters were on Friday morning
forced to pay higher fares to various destinations.
Source:
Punch
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