NLC President Ayuba Wabba
By Our Reporter
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has rejected the increase in the price of petrol from N148.50 per litre to N162.
According to the NLC President, Mr Ayuba Wabba, the increase is “like adding insult to injury”.
Wabba made the stand of labour known on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said ‘Nigerians and even the NLC are shocked about the increase and this increase is coming at a time when many Nigerians are passing through very precarious times’
“It is like Nigerians are being taken for a ride.
“The increase in price of petroleum has happened now more than three times in three months, only yesterday they hiked the tariff of electricity,” he said.
He added “The organised labour therefore rejects the increase in price of the product in the strongest terms.”
‘At the end of the day, Nigerians are becoming poorer and poorer, in fact many people are already on the edge. Many workers are already on the edge.”
“Certainly, we cannot guarantee industrial peace and harmony, and we will have to call our organs and we will have to also react but we reject it in its entirety.
“They have betrayed the trust of Nigerians, for Nigerians to be protected against the economic challenge that is affecting us,” he said,
The Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) in a statement announced that the new price adjustment effective from Sept. 2.
PPMC increased the ex-depot price from N138 to N152. This serves as basis for an increase in the retail price by marketers.
IPMAN has told its members to sell the fuel at N162.
The last price increase was on Aug. 5, when the price moved from N143.50 to N148.50 per litre..
