04 January 2016, Lagos — Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has rejected the 50 kobo reduction in fuel price by the federal government, saying it is a gimmick to remove subsidy on the product.
NLC president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, warned in a statement that the pathway of international financial institutions which the fuel subsidy removal act is taking will lead to increases in fuel pump price and attendant worsening of the hardships of poor working people.
Wabba, who noted that President Muhammadu Buhari had umpteenth times promised that he would not tamper with fuel subsidy, said the union was now disturbed that the he may have become converted by the ideologues of market forces in the oil industry symbolised by the boldness of Minister of State for Petroleum Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.
“In his contradictory statements in the last few weeks – first making a categorical statement about fuel prices moving to N97 per litre and then retreating to hide behind IMF catch-phrase of ‘price modulation,’ which we knows is an updated IMF strategy of imposing fuel price deregulation on the Nigerian people, it has become clear that Mr. President has like his predecessors in office become another captive of the forces of subsidy removal and deregulation,” Wabba stated.
He said instead of tampering with fuel subsidy, the government should remove massive corruption in the subsidy regime which has been documented in the state’s efforts to make available these essential products for Nigerians.
The NLC president urged the federal government to be more creative for Nigeria to ably expand refining capacity by building decentralised modular refineries.
“As a national priority, we must work to establish without any further dragging of our feet, modern refineries that will provide 100 percent of our national needs,” he stressed.
- Daily Trust