The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have called on the Federal Government to put an end to the fuel shortages and price hike being experience d in the country.
Presidents of the unions, Ayuba Wabba and Festus Osifo, respectively, stated this in a joint statement issued on Saturday in Abuja.
They said the fuel shortages, price hike and avoidable long queues in filling stations were unacceptable and no longer tolerable.
The labour leaders therefore urged the Federal Government to put an end to what they described as “avoidable, unnecessary, crippling and pain-inducing fuel shortages and unapproved price hike of up to N240 per litre in the country,” pointing out that no excuse is good enough to cripple the country.
”If there are challenges, they should be fixed. We have a government in power to fix challenges not to make excuses,’’ they said in their statement.
They further expressed their concern over the persistent shortage and uncontrollable prices that players in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry were meting out to Nigerians, adding that the persistent shortages of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol, had become a source of pain to the Nigerian people.
“All these have tragic consequences for the Nigerian people and debilitating effects on the health of the economy which itself is not in good state.
“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 litre of fuel far above the rate pegged by government in the current subsidy regime,’’ a part of the statement read.
The labour leaders also lamented the trillions of taxpayers money spent annually to subsidise petrol, while the same people are exploited and made to pay over N240 per litre when the current ex-depot price is N148.19k per litre, pointing out that while the opportunity cost of the subsidy payment was enormous, the benefit of the subsidy regime had gradually been eroded.
“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 in the current situation.
“No concerned and responsive government will bury its head in the sands like the proverbial Ostrich while the citizens are being brutally exploited.
“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,’’ it said.
The statement said that Organised Labour is ready and willing to engage the Federal Government and assist in all ways possible to overcome the country’s present challenges, even as it called on the regulatory and law enforcement agencies to do more to protect Nigerians from exploitation.
