The
Nigeria Labour Congress has said Nigerians will not be able to take another
fuel price increase in view of the harsh economic situation in the country.
The General Secretary of the
NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, told one of Punch correspondents on the telephone on
Sunday that the government should review its policy on subsidy that led to the
increase in the fuel pump price from N97 to N145 per litre last year.
It was reported that the Federal
Government had started paying subsidy on fuel as a result of the increase in
the landing cost and total cost of fuel from N122.03 and N140.40 per litre
respectively to N145.
Ozo-Eson
was reacting to reports that the landing cost of petroleum had increased from
N140.40 to N145, the same amount with the current fuel pump price in the
country.
He stated,
“I do not think that at this time, and given all that we have seen, that Nigerians
can be subjected to another round of price increase now. That is why government
needs to revisit and rethink its policy. Nigerians cannot take another round of
price increase.”
He
recalled that the NLC had said during the last fuel increase that the policy
was bad and not ripe in an import-dependent regime as it was bound to further
weaken the naira.
He said,
“The policy that is being pursued is not one that can grant you stability in
price. When they raised the price to N145, we said so; that with time, given an
import-dependent regime, for such a policy, the value of the Naira will be
severely weakened.
“We
actually remember saying then that before the end of the year, the Naira will
be close to N500 to a dollar and it has come to happen. If you translate the
current value of the Naira through the template, you are going to find that the
landing price would be higher.
“The
burden is on the government. That is where the issue of policy comes in.
It is government policy that led to the price going to N145. Given the
realities on the ground, now the government needs to revisit its own policy.”
He added
that the government ought to be sure of domestic refining capacity before
embarking on the removal of subsidy, which resulted in the fuel price increase to
N145 per litre.
He
explained that the actual landing cost would be determined by the Petroleum
Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, which, according him, is still working on
the price template.
When asked
what the NLC would do if the fuel price is increased again, he said, “That is
not for me to say. It is not an individual who makes such pronouncements.
Whatever develops, we may also engage it and decisions would be taken and
communicated to Nigerians.”
Also, the
President of Trade Union Congress, Mr. Bala Kaigama, said the labour unions
were members of the board of the PPPRA and were not aware of the planned
increase.
“TUC, NLC
and all the unions in the oil and gas industry are members of the governing
board of the PPPRA. So, no increase can be done without our knowledge and we
are not aware of such move,” he said.
-Punch
No comments:
Post a Comment