The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has rejected the new petrol pump price set by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL).
The oil company has instructed all its stores to sell petrol for N480 and N570 per litre.
According to Garba Deen Muhammad, NNPC Ltd.’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, the price change was made to reflect “market realities.”
However, the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, termed the event an “ambush” and insisted that further dialogue was in jeopardy when he briefed journalists at Labour House, Abuja, on Wednesday.
He said that the NLC would disagree because the government cannot talk about deregulation while setting the prices of petroleum goods. He pointed out that the government cannot control prices or remove subsidies alone.
“We are concerned that the government, through the NNPC, went ahead this morning and announced a new regime of prices under a new pricing template, despite the ongoing meeting of stakeholders in the oil and gas sector to manage the unilateral but regrettable announcement by the President to withdraw subsidy on petroleum products.
“This is an ambush and goes against social dialogue’s spirit and tenets, which continue to be the ideal forum for resolving all problems originating from the petroleum downstream sector.
“The government cannot simultaneously discuss deregulation while setting the price of petroleum goods. The union leader added that this “negates the spirit of letting the free market operate until the government has as usual usurped, captured, or become market forces.”
Comrade Ajaero, however, urged the federal government, led by President Bola Tinubu, to immediately direct the NNPCL to drop what he called its “vexatious pricing template” to allow the parties to speak freely.
He said the stakeholders’ meeting, which was supposed to take place at 2 p.m. today, as advertised in the morning, has been postponed and accused the administration of attempting to sabotage the conversation.
The head of the labour movement continued, “Therefore, it is unacceptable, and we strongly condemn it. To obtain a deal, negotiations must be conducted in good faith. The government’s actions have undermined the discussion by putting an unwarranted amount of pressure on the leaders and holding a gun to the heads of the Nigerian people.
“We urge the federal government to tell the NNPC right away to stop using this annoying pricing template so that the stakeholders can have a free exchange of ideas.
“Nigerians would not accept any manipulations of any kind from any of the parties, especially from the representatives of the Government.
“Our commitment to this process is buoyed by the fact that all the parties would be committed to ensuring that it is carried out within the ambits of liberty without undue pressure.
“The release of that template may not allow us to continue if nothing is done to withdraw it so that the dialogue can continue unhindered. It is clear that Government is actually trying to scuttle the process.
“As it stands, the federal government has become fixated on their chosen course of action. Would this help this dialogue? It clearly will not.
“There must be flexibility to allow concessions and reasonable accommodation that will produce the best result for Nigerian people. This is what we all seek at this time.”
