The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has rejected a planned petroleum price increase.
“Nigerian workers refused to take the bait,” said NLC President Ayuba Wabba in a message sent to media in Abuja.
According to Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), petrol might cost as much as N340 starting in February 2022.
Mr. Wabba described the government’s plan to provide N5,000 to 40 million Nigerians as “comical” as a way to alleviate the impact of the massive increase in gasoline prices.
He said that the entire amount involved in the “gay initiative” was significantly greater than the amount claimed by the government to be spent on fuel subsidies now.
“The NNPC GMD stated that the price hike would be a result of the Federal Government’s plans to withdraw the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, generally known as gasoline or fuel.”
“The NNPC GMD’s grand optimism was based on allegations that the withdrawal of gasoline subsidies is now endorsed by an act of parliament, most likely the Petroleum Industry Act, which was recently passed into law,” he explained.
Mr Wabba pointed out that the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, backed Mr Wabba’s sentiments at the World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update event on Tuesday (NDU).
He went on to say that the minister disclosed the government’s plans to give N5000 to each of the 40 million poorest Nigerians as a transportation allowance to offset the impact of the anticipated fuel subsidy elimination.
Mr Wabba said the NNPC GMD’s and Minister’s statements were in line with the World Bank’s and the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) positions, which urged the Federal Government to eliminate gasoline subsidies.
“What we’re hearing, according to the NLC, is the Federal government’s communication with neoliberal international monetary institutions
Given the widespread fear that has accompanied the discovery of the monologue inside the corridors of power and foreign interests, the NLC wishes to maintain its opposition to deregulation based on an import-driven model.
“We want to emphasize that the only benefit of deregulation based on an import-driven economy is that Nigerian consumers will continue to pay exorbitant prices for refined petroleum products indefinitely,” the NLC says.
“The spectacular depreciation of the naira, which currently trades in the parallel market for N560 to one US dollar, will undoubtedly exacerbate this predicament,” he said.
Any attempt to compare the price of petrol in Nigeria to that of other nations, according to the NLC president, would be based on a flawed assumption since it would be like comparing apples with mangoes.
Mr Wabba said the government’s plan to raise the price of gasoline by more than 200 percent was a perfect recipe for a worsening spiral of hyperinflation and stratospheric price increases for products and services.
“This will open a wide door to social repercussions,” he believes, citing the worsening of the current insecurity crisis as an example.