The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said importation of petroleum products should be stopped by the Federal Government because it is “akin to handing over our national sovereignty to other climes.”
They argued that it was foolhardy for the government to think it could regulate the price of a product it does not produce.
Congress berated the government for paying subsidies on petroleum products, thereby abandoning the nation’s refineries after spending $9.5 billion on their Turnaround Maintenance and Greenfield refineries between 2012 and now.
The NLC stated these in a letter addressed to the governors as key members of the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo-led National Economic Council.
The council had recommended that the pump price of fuel be increased from N162.50 to N302 per litre.
The letter is jointly signed by NLC President Ayuba Wabba and General Secretary Emmanuel Ugboaja.
Part of the letter reads: “It is the well-considered view of Nigerian workers as conveyed through the leadership of organised labour that the proposed hike if it goes through, would induce and impose an unprecedented degree of hardship on Nigerian workers, their families and the generality of the populace.
“Nigerian workers understand that the government pays a significant amount of money as so-called petrol subsidy. Nigerian workers also appreciate the fact that the monies spent on the so-called petrol subsidy would be unnecessary if the government is alive to its responsibilities of proper management of critical national assets, especially our local refineries.
“It is the mismanagement of our four public oil refineries over the years by successive governments that have opened the floodgates of mass importation of refined petroleum products and consequently unfurled incessant increases in the prices of refined petroleum products.
“The fact is very clear – there is no way a country can control the price of what it does not produce. For a critical national security product like petrol and other refined petroleum derivatives, the situation is akin to handing over our national sovereignty to other climes. There is no better description of neo-colonialism and toxic neo-liberalism than this.”
In the letter, the Congress insisted that its Thursday planned protests would go ahead because an increase in petroleum products price, whether now or in the future, would inflict more hardship on Nigerians.
