Osamagbe Imadiyi
The Nigeria Labor Congress, NLC, and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar over the weekend warned that the increase in petrol price by the federal government has put most Nigerians at a breaking point.
This came as human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, urged the Federal Government, yesterday to complete the rehabilitation of the country’s refineries by September 2024 or take legal action against the contractors for breach of contract.
This comes as the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, asked President Bola Tinubu, yesterday to direct the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, to immediately reverse the allegedly “illegal and unconstitutional” increase in petrol pump prices across its retail outlets.
While the NLC urged Nigerians to revolt against the price increase, Atiku stated that the situation of the average Nigerian and the economy will be exacerbated by the government’s plans to raise Value Added Tax, or VAT, following the recent hike in petrol prices.
Meanwhile, NLC, which insisted on the reversal of the price increase, specifically called on Nigerians to join the government’s quest to interrogate the horrifying petrol price hike.
Former Vice President also said that the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, was “destined to deepen the domestic cost-of-living crisis and exacerbate Nigeria’s already fragile economic growth.”