The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has slammed the Federal Government over its plan to remove fuel subsidy.
Nigeria Labour Congress slams FG over planned removal
A statement signed by Labour’s General Secretary, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson said members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were part of the fight against subsidy when it was removed in 2012.
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This is coming on the heels of the announcement of a new pump price for fuel by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).
A statement signed by Labour’s General Secretary, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson said members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were part of the fight against subsidy when it was removed in 2012.
Ozo-Eson said “In the past few weeks, we have heard discordant tunes from government officials and chieftains of the ruling APC on what the future portends for the price of petroleum products and the management of the subsidy scheme.
“Party chieftains who supported and encouraged the massive protests against subsidy removal in 2012 are now preaching the inevitability of subsidy removal!
“The Minister of State for Petroleum first announced that come next year the price of petrol will revert to N97 per litre and that subsidy will be phased out.
“Two days thereafter, he denied this and stated that what he said was that the price will operate within a band of N87 to N97 and that this did not mean removing the subsidy.”
Adding that “The same minister now says that the price of petrol will be N86 in January, signifying the deregulation of the sector.
“These vacillations and flip flops are, in our view, designed to confuse Nigerians and pave the way for deregulation of petrol prices through the back door.
“The fact of the matter is that as long as we continue to depend on imported refined products, deregulation and the abandonment of the subsidy scheme will unleash hardship on Nigerians.”
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is the umbrella body for trade unions in Nigeria. It was founded in 1978 following a merger of four different organisations: Nigeria Trade Union Congress (NTUC),Labour Unity Front (LUF),United Labour Congress (ULC) and Nigeria Workers Council (NWC).
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