The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has shed light on its conversation with President Bola Tinubu during which he reportedly suggested that the price of petrol could rise to N2,000 per litre.
In an interview with Daily Trust, Benson Upah, the NLC spokesperson, disclosed that Tinubu made the statement during negotiations for a new minimum wage.
According to Upah, the president warned that if the organised labour insisted on a N250,000 minimum wage, the price of fuel could soar to N1,500 or N2,000 per litre.
He said the remark prompted one of the labour leaders to question the logic behind such a price hike since the fuel subsidy had already been removed.
He said : “When the president mentioned that fuel price will increase to N2,000, one of the labour leaders interjected him and said, ‘Sir, you have removed fuel subsidy, so which other thing are you removing again?’ Remember, the subsidy was removed and prices were stabilised. So, how many times are you removing subsidy, that you have removed? Subsidy was never restored at any point in time as they claimed. So, what will inform moving the pump price of PMS from N650 to N1,500 or N2,000?”
Upah further accused President Tinubu of reneging on his earlier commitment to labour leaders by allowing a fuel price increase.
He expressed concerns that Nigerians may face even higher costs for petrol in the near future.
“I want to tell you something,” Upah continued, “what this signals is that Nigerians have not seen the worst yet. We could end up paying nothing less than N5,000 per litre for petrol in this country. We hope it doesn’t come to that, but if it does, the decision will rest with Nigerians.
