- Wants FG to give marketers permits to lift petrol from Dangote Refinery
- Atiku hits Tinubu over hardship, names him ‘T-Pain’
The Trade Union Congress on Thursday demanded the return of petrol prices to what they were as of June 2023.
Speaking during a press briefing in Abuja, TUC National President, Festus Osifo, advised the government to provide foreign exchange to the Dangote refinery.
Nigerians woke up on Wednesday to an increment in the pump price of fuel across the country. The Nigeria Labour Congress has since condemned the increase.
“We want the price of the product to go below what it was before; not just reverse to what it was before but to go below.
“The solution we are proposing if implemented will take us to the price we had as of June last year,” Osifo stated, stressing that “there is no government in the world that doesn’t intervene in its critical sector” and that the Federal Government “shouldn’t leave it (the oil sector) to the vagaries and gyration of our naira”.
The TUC leader harped on the availability, affordability, and accessibility of petrol for all Nigerians, saying that the commodity is essential for all Nigerian households, even those without a second-hand value car.
The trade union placed its demands along the lines of affordability, availability, and accessibility, saying, “We want the Federal Government to, through Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, give all marketers licenses to lift petrol from the Dangote Refinery.”
Osifo said the NNPCL should source refined petrol from other places if the Dangote Refinery cannot meet the current daily demands of Nigerians.
“If it is not available, it is a problem. If, for example, the production from Dangote Refinery is less than 15 million litres per day, it is not sufficient.
“So, while efforts are being made to ramp up production from Dangote Refinery, what we are demanding is that we should look for every other means as we are ramping up production, we should source for that difference and bring it in for a while until Dangote can get to that level where the production is sufficient to get to all nooks and crannies of Nigeria. For us, that is key because it will address the issue of availability,” the TUC boss stated.
Atiku hits Tinubu over hardship, labels him ‘T-Pain’
Also, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has described President Bola Tinubu as T-Pain over the hike in pump price of petrol.
Weighing in on the conversation on Thursday, Atiku who was up against Tinubu in last year’s election took to X.
“The haphazard and disingenuous approach of the current administration to fuel subsidy management has been the reason we are in this current economic crisis in the country. As things stand, there will be no letup in the escalating inflation rate, which is drowning the material well-being of Nigerians. It is even more worrying that T-pain is undisturbed by the hardship in the country.”
Although T-Pain is the stage name of an American artiste, social media critics have used it to describe Tinubu over the cost of living crisis.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has said it should not be held responsible for the latest hike in petrol price.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the NNPCL hiked prices in response to prevailing circumstances in the energy industry.
Mohammed said the oil company did not act on any instruction from the federal government, as the government can no longer fix prices of petroleum products, in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act.
He said with the subsidy regime ending in May 2023, the NNPCL had only been paying differential to keep the price within the range it had been, but the company said it could no longer absorb the losses.
Abuja to Lagos using CNG’ll cost you N10, 000, says presidential aide
The Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, has urged Nigerians to embrace the use of Compressed Natural Gas as a “cleaner, safer, and cheaper” alternative to Premium Motor Spirits.
Olusegun stated this in a post on X.com on Thursday adding that travelling from Abuja to Lagos with CNG will cost N10, 000.
Olusegun wrote, “From Abuja-Lagos using CNG will cost you N10, 000. A PMS tank has chances of exploding due to heat faster than a CNG tank ever will.
“Nigeria has more gas than crude oil. The business of CNG is moving faster than anticipated with stations coming up across every part of the country.”
He added that CNG financing options are also becoming more accessible, with outlets like Futurewave Energy Solutions offering conversion services with flexible payment plans.
“CNG financing is getting better every day with outlets like #futurewavecng allowing you to convert and pay back over time.
“As a safer, cheaper and cleaner source of energy, the best time for you to join the CNG camp is now,” he added.
This statement comes amidst the recent fuel pump price increase by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
On Wednesday, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited raised the pump price of fuel from N897 per litre to N1, 030 in Abuja; from N855 to N998 in Lagos; N1, 070 in North East; N1, 025 in other South West states; N1, 045 in South East and N1, 075 in South South.
This had triggered reactions among Nigerians who asked Tinubu to work towards reversing the increment.
President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero had asked if increasing pump price is what the Tinubu administration lives for.
