The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have asked the federal government to swing into immediate action to end the unapproved hike of N240 fuel price by oil marketers.
Labour in a statement jointly signed by the NLC president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba and TUC president, Comrade Festus Osifo, yesterday said no excuse was good enough to cripple the country as the price hike was avoidable and unnecessary.
The statement noted that the organised labour was ready and willing to engage the federal government and assist in all ways possible to overcome the country’s present challenges but cautioned it not to take either the labour movement nor the Nigerian people for granted as it seems to be manifestly doing on various crucial national issues.
The statement said; “We are reliably informed that the shortage is deliberately fostered by players in the downstream sector in other to hike the price far above the government approved threshold. It is an added problem when non-state actors begin to arrogate to themselves the power to determine the price of a liter of fuel far above the rate pegged by government in the current subsidy regime.
“No country develops when its people are subjected to perennials hardship and its industries are shackled by unnecessary chains of miseries, It is more disturbing that the government is equally demonstrating high level of culpability in the unwholesome situation by its silence and unwillingness to frontally and publicly address the harrowing experiences of Nigeria in the current situation because no concerned and responsive government will bury its head in the sands like the proverbial Ostrich while the citizens are being brutally exploite.
“For the records, no private individual or companies are importing a litre of PMS into this Country, all Products are imported by the government and there is no record whatsoever that the agency of government that is importing the products has added a kobo to the price it sells the products to the marketers then who is benefiting from this racketeering?
“We are strongly worried that leaving our energy security and sovereignty in the hands of unscrupulous capitalists and their collaborators will further plunge this nation into the economic abyss we are working hard to avoid.”
