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NLC warns latest petrol price hike will deepen poverty, cause job cuts
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said on Wednesday the latest increase in the pump price of petrol would further deepen poverty as production capacities dip.
Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had earlier on Wednesday raised the pump price of petrol by 14.8 percent to N1,030 per litre from N897 across its retail outlets in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The company increased the price of the product from N615 to N897 in September.
In a statement titled: “What next after the increase in pump price?,” the NLC President, Mr. Joe Ajaero, lamented that the increase would lead to more job cuts with multidimensional negative effects, and therefore, demanded its immediate reversal.
He said the previous increases had not produced any good results, rather, people only got poorer.
READ ALSO: It’s ‘misleading, mischievous’ Dangote refinery faults NNPCL on N898/ litre price claims
Ajaero expressed dismay at the latest hike in the pump price of petrol without commensurate efforts to increase the capacity of Nigerians or mitigatory measures.
The statement read: “Even following the logic of market forces we find it an aberration that a private company (NNPCL) is the one fixing prices and projecting itself as a hegemonic monopoly.
“We challenge the government to go to the drawing board and present us with a blueprint for inclusive economic growth and national development instead of this spasmodic ad hocism and palliative policy.
“It needs no stating the fact that the latest wave of increase has grossly altered the calculations of Nigerians once again at a time they were reluctantly coming to terms with their new realities.”
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