The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has expressed strong discontent and a sense of betrayal over the Federal Government’s recent petrol price hike, despite previous assurances that prices would remain stable.
NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, highlighted that the union’s acceptance of the new N70,000 minimum wage was based on the understanding that petrol prices would not be raised.
In a statement, Ajaero revealed that President Bola Tinubu had presented Labour leaders with two options: a N250,000 minimum wage with a significant increase in petrol prices, or N70,000 at the current rates. The union chose the latter to prevent additional hardship for Nigerians.
“We feel deeply betrayed as the government has covertly raised the pump price of PMS,” Ajaero said.
“One of the reasons we accepted N70,000 as the national minimum wage was the understanding that the pump price would not be increased, even though we knew N70,000 was inadequate.”
He added, “We vividly recall when the President presented us with the devil’s alternatives, and we chose the lesser evil to avoid further punishment on Nigerians. Yet here we are, just one month later, facing a reality we cannot justify.”
The NLC has called on the government to reverse the petrol price increase and warned that its leadership would convene soon to decide on the union’s next steps.
