NLC demands petrol price hike reversal

The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, on Wednesday asked the federal government to reverse the latest petrol price hike. 

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had raised the pump price of the product in Abuja from N897 per litre to N1, 030; from N855 to N998 in Lagos; N1, 070 in North-East; N1,025 in other South-West states; N1,045 in South-East and N1,075 in South-South. 

In a statement, the NLC through its president, Ajaero, demanded for the immediate reversal of the petrol price hike, saying it is illogical that a private firm is the one determining the prices of the products.

He wondered why the government continued to jack up the price of petrol virtually every month when the new minimum wage was yet to be implemented. 

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He stated: “We are dismayed by the latest increase in the pump price of petrol. It looks like the only thing this government is known for is increase in the pump price of petrol without commensurate capacity of Nigerians or mitigatory measures.

“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 an 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, more jobs 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 result. 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,” the labour leader said. 

Later at the unveiling of a book titled ‘The Tripartite: Understanding the Interplay between Workers, Employers and Government’, authored by Sharon Ijasan, TVC’s Labour correspondent, Ajaero asked Nigerians to react in unison against the latest fuel price hike, saying they should not leave the battle to labour alone.

 “I think it’s important we understand it, and  it’s important for those in government to realise that governance is not just about increase in pump price of petroleum products. It appears that every morning people come out and increase, increase. Is that all about governance?”, he queried.

 He further said: “Now, if I respond on what we are going to do as a labour movement, would that translate to what Nigerians will do to respond to this? Nigerians are expecting the labour movement to react to this hike.

“But, the issue at stake is more than labour movement because we are trying to look at it vis-a-vis N70,000 which was given to workers”, he said. 

Still speaking on the issue, the NLC president said: “We’ve had agreements on looking at the issue of CNG (Compressed Natural Gas). The impact on it today is not there. We have had agreement on the issue of Port Harcourt refinery functioning. It’s not functioning today.”

We’re not responsible for petrol price hike – FG  

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, on Wednesday said the government should not be held responsible for the latest hike in petrol price.

In a chat with Daily Trust, the minister explained that the NNPCL made the decision in response to prevailing circumstances in the energy industry, emphasising that it was not acting on any instruction from the federal government, as the government can no longer fix prices of petroleum products,  in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

He said with the subsidy regime ending since May 2023, the NNPCL had only been paying differential to keep the price within the range it had been, but the company said it could no longer absorb the losses.

“The differential you’re seeing is a result of different factors. One of them is the crisis in the Middle East. There’s volatility in the market. Therefore, the prices of petroleum products are going up, consistent with what is happening with other operators in the industry globally. Secondly, NNPC cannot continue to absorb these losses for Nigeria because as a limited liability company, it would be operating at a loss,” he said.

The minister urged Nigerians to continue to show understanding with the NNPCL and the government, assuring that in the long run the prices would ultimately come down.

He said the government will continue to invest the savings from removal of subsidy to improve other critical sectors like healthcare, education, infrastructure, and security.

He added that the initial investments of the government in CNG would also ameliorate the impact even as more operators invest.

New price not favourable to us – IPMAN   

The President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Abubakar Maigandi, said on Wednesday that the new price was not favourable to members of the association. 

Maigandi said the association was still studying the situation. 

He said the IPMAN will make its position known after conferring with the NNPCL.

‘Small businesses will shut down’

A business owner and entrepreneur, Cornelius Onuorah, who spoke to Daily Trust on the development yesterday, said small businesses cannot survive the latest hike in the price of petrol.

Onuorah, who is also the president of the Premium Bread-makers Association of Nigeria (PBAN), said this would add to the cost of operation.

He said many more bakeries would close shop.

“Fuel has increased, flour is going up, everything is going up. How can small businesses like ours survive?  That is why bakeries are closing shop and people are being thrown into poverty. It is killing indeed,” he said.

It’s unbearable, citizens cry out 

Some Nigerians yesterday took to social media platforms to express dismay over the latest fuel price increase. 

They said it would worsen poverty among the citizens. 

On X, @rolandjick267 wrote: “How do we survive? This is becoming too much.”

@Sthabbey said: “This situation is becoming unacceptable. Nigerians deserve respect from @officialABAT and his administration. This is unwarranted, and our patience has been stretched to its limit.”

@Abubakar_tatari said: “It’s getting out of hand; no sympathy for the masses…”

On Facebook, one Abdullahi Bala Muhammad wrote: “The president should call them to order because what they are doing these days is getting out of hand. In fact, they are pushing poor Nigerians to the wall”.

Long fuel queues in Lagos, Abuja  

In Lagos and Abuja yesterday, Daily Trust observed long queues at many filling stations.

Few NNPCL outlets were selling in Ikeja, Fadeyi and Maryland, attracting many vehicles on queue while many others like AP, MRS situated at Oba- Akran and Mobil at Guinness were not dispensing fuel. Motorists, who spoke to our reporters, said the hike in the price of fuel would worsen their economic fortunes. 

Anthony Chuks, a tricycle driver, said: “We are in a hard time. This fuel problem affects us. It’s affecting us so much. Before, we used to buy fuel of N1200/N1400 per day. Now at N998, that is about N7,200 per day.” 

NNPCL stations at the Popular Berger Roundabout and Central area in Abuja were not dispensing the product when our reporters visited. 

The AA Rano station near Jabi Park was dispensing petrol for N,1050; while many other stations shut down operations.  

In Kano, NNPCL stations yesterday adjusted their pump price to N1,070, but Rainoil was seen selling for  N1,250.

Full deregulation is here – Marketer

A major marketer, Adetunji Oyebanji, said the new price adjustment indicated that the era of full deregulation of PMS is here, saying this was inevitable.

Oyebanji, who is the Managing Director of 11 PLC (formerly Mobil Nigeria), said: “I believe the price of PMS has finally been deregulated, and subsidy has finally been eliminated. Henceforth, the price of PMS will be determined by market dynamics.

“This is inevitable as the government can no longer bear the burden of the subsidy.  A good measure the government has taken to mitigate the development is the sale of crude oil to local refineries in Naira at a fixed exchange rate.

“This will protect consumers from the negative impact of the fluctuations in exchange rates. The fact that the crude will be refined in local refineries will also save the cost of transporting crude to offshore refineries and transporting refined products back to Nigeria”, he said. He advised consumers to consider alternative sources of powering their vehicles like CNG.

He said: “The government should invest in mass transportation, especially with CNG buses. Greater incentives should be given in terms of duty waivers on conversion kits and other CNG equipment and vehicles.”

NNPCL keeps mum  

There was no official comment from the NNPCL as of press time as the spokesperson of the national oil company, Olufemi Soneye, did not respond to an enquiry by Daily Trust.