Joe Ajaero, president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC),
says Nigerians are being deceived on the issue of petrol pricing.
Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels TV programme, Ajaero
said the masses are being punished unnecessarily.
The product’s pump price surged to N617 per litre in the
federal capital territory (FCT) and N568 a litre in Lagos.
According to Ajaero, the President Bola Tinubu
administration is toying with Nigerians, and the Nigerian National Petroleum
Company Limited (NNPCL) is only being clever by half.
“NNPCL cannot import
and say the commodity is imported by marketers, that is not true,” he said.
“If the government withdrew subsidies of petroleum products
and suddenly, while we are about to start committee meetings, there is another
price increase, why then will government seek a court injunction and use other
measures if it is not their business?
“It seems we have entered a reign where Nigerians are being
punished unnecessarily and where lies are coming up everywhere.
“If you have a single
market where everybody must change dollars at N800/$1, you removed the market
where people were changing dollars at N450 to import, it means the very moment
that dollar value increases to even N900/N1000, you will tell us that you
imported it at current value.
“Despite the fact that the products you have now are not the
ones that were imported under N800/$.
“Clearly, the government is toying with Nigerians. What is
happening is not economics, but a reign of impunity.”
On May 29, President Bola Tinubu announced that “petrol
subsidy is gone” — a pronouncement which immediately led to a hike in the pump
price of the product across the country.
Subsequently, NNPCL increased the price of petrol at its
retail outlets, with independent marketers following suit.
TheCable had reported that transport costs soared by over
100 percent in the wake of the president’s inaugural speech.
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