Scannews NLC to govt: we’ll resist fuel price hike Labour warned yesterday against further “punishment” of Nigerians by the Federal Government, with the lingering petrol scarcity nationwide. Many filling stations in Lagos did not have petrol and the scarcity was biting hard in Abuja, the nation’s capital. In many other cities, prices went up to as high as N120 per litre. The official price is N97 per litre. But the government is insisting that there is enough supply of products and that the scarcity is artificial. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) warned that if the nationwide scarcity is to pave the way for increase in prices of petroleum products, the labour movement would resist the attempt. NLC President Abdulwahed Omar, in a statement, said trading blame between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the oil marketers seems to be a ploy to inflict pains on Nigerians to compel them to accept increase in fuel prices. But Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Maduake said at the weekend in Lagos after inspecting some filling stations that the government has no plan to increase fuel price. The NLC President said: “Assurances by the NNPC notwithstanding, the tirade and buck passing between the corporation and marketers indicate an attempt to deliberately inflict hardship on Nigerians so as to accept increase in fuel prices. We hope this is not the case, as the Labour Movement will resist any attempt to further impoverish the working people with increase in fuel prices.” The statement, which NLC titled: “Stop punishing Nigerians with fuel scarcity”, warned that Nigerians could only hold the Federal Government responsible for the scarcity and not the marketers. Omar added: “We didn’t elect marketers to govern us. Government must take full responsibility for the scarcity and take decisive steps to restore normalcy urgently.” The NLC recalled since the last few weeks when scarcity of petroleum products at sales stations became noticeable, workers and the Nigerian people have experienced excruciating hardship and trauma with incoherent excuses from marketers and ostensible helplessness from the Federal government as well as relevant agencies responsible to rectify the deplorable situation. Omar noted that the scarcity of the product and long hours at fuel stations have clearly slowed down productivity and its attendant effect on service delivery and production within the economy. According to the NLC, while importers claim the unnecessary delay in obtaining import approvals from the Federal Government, which enable them import the products early enough to meet up with public demands, is the cause of the scarcity; the NNPC insists the products are available, but the marketers are hoarding products to deliberately increase prices. The congress said that the recent announcement by the NNPC that it has supplied 50 million litres of fuel to marketers and intensified its monitoring exercise to check hoarding of the product has not ameliorated, but heightened the suffering of Nigerians as prices have continued to skyrocket with a litre of fuel selling between N500 – N800 in the parallel market. The NLC said that it was bad enough that Nigeria was importing products it produces, and scandalous that the government had not fixed the rot in the petroleum industry despite promises publicly made by successive administrations between 1999 and now. Omar said: “We believe the government can do better by immediately bringing supplies of these products to its normal status because the economy may be halted soon, should the scarcity continue.” The persistent fuel scarcity has taken its toll on the residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as transport fare has increased by between 50 and 100 per cent
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 17:31:24 +0000
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