The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called for an immediate reversal of the Wednesday (today, October 9’s) fresh hike in petrol pump prices, citing the adverse effects on citizens and the economy.
On Wednesday, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) increased the pump price of fuel, raising it from N897 to N1,030 per liter in Abuja and from N885 to N998 in Lagos.
Reacting, Joe Ajaero, President of the NLC in a statement, expressed deep dismay over the government’s continuous trend of raising fuel prices without providing adequate support or relief measures for the populace.
Ajaero criticized the role of the NNPCL in setting fuel prices, describing it as a monopolistic practice that undermines market fairness.
He stressed the need for the government to formulate a comprehensive economic growth strategy focused on inclusive national development rather than ad hoc responses.
The labour leader warned that the latest price hike would worsen poverty levels, hinder production capacity, and lead to further job losses, compounding the existing economic challenges faced by Nigerians.
“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,” Ajaero said.
The NLC president further called for transparency from the government regarding its economic direction, insisting that citizens deserve to know the plans for the country’s future.
“But more fundamentally, the government should be bold enough to tell Nigerians in advance the destination it wants to take the country,” the statement stressed.
