The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s federal government to act as petrol prices climb above N1,430 per litre nationwide. NLC President Joe Ajaero issued the appeal on Wednesday.
The latest increases followed a rise in crude oil prices to more than $104 a barrel. Retail stations, including outlets operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), lifted pump prices to N1,395-N1,450 per litre in Abuja and surrounding areas. The move came after Dangote Refinery and depot operators raised gantry and ex-depot petrol prices to between N1,265 and N1,340 per litre.
Ajaero said the more expensive fuel had raised transport costs and pushed up fees, rents, tariffs and food prices. He warned that the worsening cost-of-living crisis was driving more Nigerians, including workers, into poverty.
He also criticized the Tinubu administration for failing to introduce relief measures despite collecting trillions of naira from crude exports and windfall income. With the 2027 presidential election approaching, Ajaero said the government should not allow fuel marketers to impose further hardship on citizens under the banner of deregulating the oil and gas industry.
The labour leader called on Tinubu to provide immediate and sufficient palliatives to ease the pressure on households. He also asked the government to ensure that domestic refineries receive enough crude oil, arguing that this would limit the effect of international energy-price shocks on Nigeria.
Ajaero said the need for intervention was especially pressing because the government was earning an additional $35-$40 per barrel in the international spot market above the amount assumed in the budget. He said the extra proceeds amounted to trillions of naira each month and should be regarded as a windfall with which the government ought to be satisfied.
For the longer term, he said it was “unreasonable and unacceptable” for Nigerian refineries to import crude, because the practice undermined the rationale for building domestic processing capacity. He added that a government seeking re-election in the coming months could not stand by while marketers imposed suffering on the population in the name of deregulation.
