Amid the surge in the new pump price for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) on Tuesday, the Nigerian Labour Congress(NLC) expressed profound disappointment in President Tinubu, labelling him a ‘betrayer’ for the sudden increase in fuel prices.
In a statement signed by its president, Joe Ajaero, and disclosed, the NLC condemned the government’s action, citing it as a breach of trust, especially after the recent acceptance of a N70,000 national minimum wage under the assumption that fuel prices would remain stable.
The NLC also demanded an immediate reversal of the fuel price hike, the release of incarcerated protesters, and a rollback of the 250% increase in electricity tariffs.
Ajaero warned that the Congress would convene in the coming days to deliberate on further actions.
The Executive Director of the Rule of Law Accountability and Advocacy Centre, Okechukwu Nwaguma, echoed the NLC’s concerns, describing the price hike as “alarming” and warning that it would worsen the cost-of-living crisis.
Nwaguma criticized the government for its “anti-people” policies, emphasizing the disproportionate impact on lower-income households due to significant price disparities across regions.
Adding to the chorus of discontent, Juwon Sanyaolu, National Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement and organiser of the #EndBadGovernance protests, expressed disappointment but not surprise at the fuel price increase.
He noted that the President had disregarded protesters’ demands during the August anti-hunger demonstrations and vowed to mobilise Nigerians for another nationwide protest on October 1st.
“Obviously we are rejecting this increment pump price, and to resist this, Nigerians will be mobilised to the streets once again on the 1st of October this year. And of course, the government has a lot of time between now and the 1st of October to immediately address not just the reversal of the increased pump price, but also the entire demands of the protesters”.
