•Govt must rein in or admit collusion in citizens’ pains, hardship

•Dangote model proves local refining won’t bring cheap fuel

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, and the umbrella body for pro-workers civil society organisations, CSOs, the Joint Action Front, JAF, have condemned the latest increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, describing the development as a direct attack on Nigerian workers and the masses.

Petrol prices yesterday ranged between N1,310 and N1, 450 per liter in Lagos. While outside Lagos it ranged from N1, 500 and above.

The labour and civil society groups said the increase had no economic justification, arguing that crude oil prices had remained stable while the exchange rate had become slightly more favourable for local production.

Speaking to Vanguard Newspapers, Assistant General Secretary of the NLC, Chris Onyeka, said the latest development amounted to a coordinated assault on Nigerian workers and the masses, accusing the government of allowing monopoly control of the petroleum downstream sector.

Onyeka said: “The gang-up against Nigerian workers and the masses is now complete — and it has the open backing of the ruling class.

“Let’s be clear: crude oil prices have remained stable. The exchange rate has even become slightly more favorable for local production, whose inputs are dollar-denominated. There is no economic justification for this hike.

“What we are witnessing is naked capitalist greed under monopoly control. With Dangote now the dominant supplier of petroleum products, he wields the power to dictate prices to 200+ million Nigerians. And he is using it ruthlessly.

“The moment any opening appears, he hikes prices — while industry regulators look the other way in complicit silence. This is what happens when the state chooses to breed monopolies instead of break them. Other countries fight monopolies. Nigeria incubates them.

“We have seen this movie before. The same monopoly that forces us to pay extortionate prices for a bag of cement is now strangling us at the fuel pump.

“N1,500/litre for PMS is not just a price increase. It is a direct attack on the working class. All discerning Nigerians should be worried that importers of petroleum products are still in business and are making a profit. What this simply means is that if, after paying for transport, logistics and margins, they are still able to compete with without those costs, then there is something terribly wrong with our pricing template in the sector.

“The impact is immediate and brutal: Wages have not moved, but transport to work has doubled and tripled. Real income is collapsing. A day’s pay will now be eaten up by a single trip to and from work.
“Food, water, healthcare, and school costs will spike because everything in Nigeria moves by petrol or diesel. Hunger and poverty will deepen.

“SMEs, traders, and artisans who run on generators will be wiped out. Logistics costs will kill small businesses and trigger mass layoffs.

“This is extraction, not development. Monopoly profits are siphoned upward while demand collapses downward. The entire economy is being asphyxiated to feed one conglomerate.

“Even worse, this comes right after Nigeria recorded one of the highest fuel price hikes globally, linked to the Iran-USA/Israel war — a hike we were told was ‘temporary.’

“There will be no relief until we break this stranglehold. Monopoly must be stopped from suffocating Nigerians. This means getting our public refineries working and under democratic, public control. If the refineries come back on stream as pledged by the President, it will go a long way — unless it is all political rhetoric, since we are yet to witness any serious action to make that promise a reality, dismantling downstream monopolies and regulators that serve the people, not capital.

“Government agencies must choose: either rein in monopolistic appetite for exploitation, or admit they are partners in suffocating Nigerian workers and the people.

“By their silence, it appears the state is not interested in easing the suffering of workers and the masses. It is interested in protecting profit.

“Monopolies and others in the sector must understand that the ruthlessness of today against the people will become a weapon for the people tomorrow against their oppressors. The companies should remember that they were hugely backed by the public purse to get to where they are today and should not betray this public trust. These capitalists should be more patriotic than what they are presently doing.
“Until we end monopoly and take back control of our energy sector, every Nigerian will keep paying the price — literally — for capitalist greed.”

TUC seeks immediate intervention

Also reacting to the development, Chairman of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, Lagos State Council, Abiodun Oladetan, called for immediate intervention by governments at all levels to cushion the impact of the latest fuel price increase on workers.

Oladetan said: “I am of the view that Government at all levels must act fast by providing relief before the next wage negotiations. Lagos State has a direct precedent for interim relief ahead of a full wage settlement: Following the May 2023 removal of the petroleum subsidy, the Federal Government negotiated and paid a N35,000 monthly wage award to cushion workers from September 2023 to February 2024 as a bridge measure pending the new minimum wage.

“Lagos State itself paid a N35,000 wage award before moving to its own N85,000 minimum wage in October 2024. The same logic — an interim, time-bound award pending a fuller review — applies squarely to the present fuel-price shock.

“Real income has been eroded since October 2024 by cumulative fuel-driven inflation in transport, food, and energy. I am proposing an interim wage award modelled directly on the 2023/2024 precedent. This should be applied pending the 2027 statutory review.”

No end in sight-JAF

The Joint Action Front, JAF, also opposed the latest fuel price increase, describing it as a confirmation of its earlier opposition to deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.

National Mobilisation Officer of the JAF, Peluola Adewale, said: “It is a confirmation of the correctness of our opposition to the deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry. Unfortunately, the labour movement did not put up a serious fightback by mobilising mass resistance against the ‘subsidy is gone’ declaration by President Tinubu at the inauguration of his administration.

“It was clear from the earlier deregulation of diesel and kerosene that the price of petrol would be outrageous. The current situation is nothing but a ruse to increase the pump price of petroleum products. “The experience with cement, an industry also dominated by Dangote, has already shown that local production is not a guarantee of low prices. Private entities are in business for super profits.

“We call for the restoration of a petrol subsidy, democratically managed to ensure it is not a guise to line the pockets of oil barons and public officials in the NNPC or in Aso Rock. In reality, there is no alternative to building adequate and functional public refineries.

“The working masses should not be deceived. A restored subsidy regime, as promised by Atiku or by this Tinubu regime, and managed under a capitalist economy, may not necessarily translate to a decrease in pump prices.

“This explains why the leadership of labour must take the necessary measures and steps to mobilise workers for a new minimum wage of N300,000 to match the rate of inflation.

“The Nigerian working masses and youth have to be prepared to fight for the building of functional public refineries, regardless of who wins the presidential election.

“Indeed, the struggle and mobilisation should start immediately. We call on the leadership of the NLC and TUC to provide organised labour as the platform for the struggle, which must also be linked with the building of a mass working people’s political alternative.

“Also importantly, as a safeguard against the corruption that has characterised existing public refineries, we call for the democratic control of the building, renovation and running of public refineries by elected representatives of workers and relevant professionals.”