The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has given the federal government from now to Wednesday next week to reverse fuel prices to their places before the fuel subsidy was removed or face indefinite strike action.
NLC President Joe Ajaero announced the ultimatum after an emergency meeting of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) in Abuja.
The federal government’s decision to remove fuel subsidies was announced by President Bola Tinubu during his inauguration on Monday. In his inaugural address, the president declared that “fuel subsidy is gone”.
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His statement, which triggered unprecedented fuel scarcity across the country, prompted the adjustment of pump prices by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
The new pump prices, which put the cost of fuel at N488 to N557 have stoked the cost of transportation nationwide – forcing commuters to take to trekking.
The NLC has accused the government of being insensitive to the plights of the Nigerian people by abruptly removing fuel subsidy without providing palliatives to cushion the effect.
Earlier, a group, Joint Action Front (JAF), had called on the NLC and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) to declare a nationwide strike in protest over the hikes in petrol prices occasioned by the subsidy removal.
“The Joint Action Front (JAF) condemns the pronouncement of Bola Tinubu during his inauguration as the President of Nigeria on May 29 that the ‘petrol subsidy is gone’.
“Since the pronouncement, the country has been further plunged into crisis as the petrol prices went as high as N600, long queues returned at fuel stations and ordinary people have to walk a long distance to work and other destinations,” the group said in a statement.
Earlier meetings held by the federal government and the NLC ended in deadlock.
The CEO of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari, said on Thursday that there is no going back on the fuel subsidy removal. He said, “By the provisions of the PIA [Petroleum Industry Act], actually the subsidy regime vanished on the 17th of February, 2022.” The law states that six months after the enactment of the PIA, petroleum products, particularly PMS must be priced at market rates, he added.
JAF, in its call on the NLC to resist the hike in pump prices, asked Nigerians to reject the subsidy removal.
“We call for a mass rejection of this anti-poor policy and other capitalist attacks including the devaluation of naira which Tinubu has planned to unleash on working people, youth, and the poor in line with the dictates of the World Bank and IMF.
“Already the hike in petrol prices has compounded the pre-existing economic hardship which itself was a result of the capitalist policies of the APC government. The already excruciatingly high cost of living and the high inflation which is at present over 22 percent will be worsened,” the group said.
Amid the chaos, Ajaero who had earlier called for a probe into the subsidy regime said the government, particularly the NNPCL, has up until Wednesday next week to revert to the old price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). He added that if the federal government fails to meet the ultimatum, organized labour will have no choice but to embark on a nationwide strike.
But Kyari said that “These pains will be alleviated, and I am aware that Mr. President is working on this to see how the alleviation of these pains is going on.” He added that the subsidy removal is going to enable the resources to come back and be of use to the ordinary people.