The Organised Labour and other stakeholders have raised an alarm over the hike in the price of petrol in Nigeria on Tuesday.
Reacting to the increase in the price of petrol from N620 per litre to N897 per litre, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) described Nigerian President Bola Tinubu as a betrayer.
“We are filled with a deep sense of betrayal as the Nigerian Federal Government clandestinely increases the pump price of PMS. One of the reasons for accepting N70,000 as national minimum wage was the understanding that the pump price of PMS would not be increased even as we knew that N70,000 was not sufficient,” the President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, said.
The NLC demanded an immediate reversal of the pump price, release of incarcerated protesters and reversal of the 250 per cent hike in electricity tariff.
“In the coming days, the appropriate organs of the Congress will be meeting to take appropriate decisions which will be made public,” he assured.
The Executive Director of the Rule of Law Accountability and Advocacy Centre, Okechukwu Nwaguma, also described the hike in pump prices as “alarming”, adding that the increase will exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis, and affect transportation costs, food prices, and overall inflation.
He accused the government of taking “anti-people” measures despite public outcry, stating that it was critical for the government to address the root causes of the economic challenges.
“The significant price variations across different regions, with some stations charging as high as N970, highlight disparities in access and affordability, disproportionately affecting lower-income households.
“The government continues to take anti people measures in utter contempt of the public’s outcry, which reflects widespread dissatisfaction and frustration with the government’s management of the economy. Citizens are left to bear the brunt of policy decisions without adequate support or relief measures”.
“It is critical for the government to address the root causes of these economic challenges, tackle corruption, minimise waste, show responsibility, sensitivity and compassion in their own lifestyles ,and implement measures that cushion the impact on citizens, such as subsidies or social support programs”, he said.
The National Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement and organisers of the #EndBadGovernance protests, Juwon Sanyaolu, said the movement was not surprised at the price hike, noting that the President had ignored protesters’ demands during the August 1-10 anti-hunger protests.
“The reason we have called for an October 1 nationwide protest is largely because President Tinubu in his media broadcast on August 4th, completely ignored protest demands. Rather he went on gaslighting protesters and didn’t even justify the repression against protests”.
“So we are not surprised that we are having a situation where the government, or the NNPC you may say, have increased the price of fuel, which is directly opposite to the demands of the protests, which was calling for the reversal of the price of fuel to what it was before May 29, 2023,” the report by Punch newspaper on Wednesday quoted Sanyaolu as saying.
GIK/APA