The Nigeria Labour Congress has decried the recent hike in the price of Premium Motor Spirit popularly known as petrol nationwide.
The union also demanded an immediate reversal of the hike while accusing the government of only focusing on fuel price increments.
The NLC in a statement signed by its president, Joe Ajaero, on Wednesday, called on the government to inform Nigerians of the destination it plans to take the country to.
Ajaero also knocked on Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited for the increment.
“Even following the logic of market forces, we find it an aberration that a private company (NNPCL) is the one fixing prices and projecting itself as a hegemonic monopoly. We challenge the government to go to the drawing board and present us with a blueprint for 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 and more jobs are 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 results. People only got poorer. But more fundamentally, the government should be bold enough to tell Nigerians in advance the destination it wants to take the country.”
Earlier, some stations of the NNPC in Abuja raised the retail price of petrol to N1,030 from N897 per litre.
Punch
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