…says there’s a limit to what Nigerians can take
Three days after the increase in the pump rice of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), equally known as petrol, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has finally stepped out of the shadows to reject and condemn government’s action.
Nigerians had woken up Friday morning to learn through an internal memo originating from the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), that the ex-depot price of petrol has been increased from N147.67 per litre to N155.17 per litre.
By implication, the price of petrol now ranges between N168 to N170 per litre across the country.
However, all efforts to get immediate reactions from Congress and its sister union the Trade Union Congress (TUC) up until Sunday, had proved abortive as calls and messages were unattended to.
However, in a statement on Monday in Abuja, President of the NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, who said there was a limit to what Nigerians could take, demanded an immediate reversal to the former pump price, while awaiting updates from unions in the petroleum and electricity sectors, charged to monitor Federal Government’s commitment to agreements earlier reached with organised labour in September.
Wabba, who said the increase in petrol pump goes contrary to the spirit and content of what Organised Labour agreed with government at the last negotiations, raised concerns that the increase would further exacerbate the current level of pain and anguish in the country.