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.
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