NLC Condemns New Petrol Price Increase, Accuses FG of Insensitivity

The Nigeria Labour Congress has frowned on the recent hike in the pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, describing it as the height of insensitivity against the masses.

Senior NLC official disclosed this in an interview with newsmen on Sunday, as oil marketers refuted being blamed for the recent hike in PMS prices nationwide.

Similarly, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery also said the rise in petrol price was not from the $20bn Lekki-based plant but due to an increase in the cost of crude oil, the major component for refined petroleum products.

Reacting to this, the Deputy President of Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission, Prof Theophilus Ndubuaku argued that in a saner clime, representatives of workers, the organised private sector and students would have been called to a roundtable to deliberate on the course of action and analysis of the consequences before the decision would be taken.

He said, “This pump price hike will not only affect foodstuff and fare. There is the problem of inflation and the value of naira to contend with. Instead, what we are seeing is a situation we call Tinubunomics. It is something that has not been tested.

Continuing, Ndubuaku emphasised that President Bola Tinubu will do well to borrow the template of former leaders like Olusegun Obasanjo, who he claimed held a monthly roundtable with stakeholders whenever sensitive issues that have a lot to do with workers’ welfare were being discussed.