Covid-19: New petrol pump price unacceptable – Textile workers

National Union of Textile Garments and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) on Friday condemned the new petrol pump price of N143.80k, noting that the increment “will worsen the plight of Nigerians, especially as the country is still suffering the economic impact of Covid-19.”

NUTGTWN’s national president, Comrade John Adaji, in a statement on Friday said for “a people wallowing in the economic fallout of Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown, which led to the distribution of palliatives and other reliefs to mitigate the impact, increasing fuel price now is akin to a sucker punch from which recovery will be very difficult.” 

The statement read in part, “As an affiliate of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), we hereby condemn the increase in the pump price of petrol from N121 to the ranges of N140.80 and N143.80 as announced by the Nigeria’s Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). Most oil marketers in the country have adjusted their pump prices accordingly with many of them selling at N145 per litre and above.

“The prohibitive increase in pump price of petrol coming at the time most Nigerians are passing through excruciating difficulties occasioned by Covid-19 is not acceptable and also does not portray the Nigeria government as a caring government.

“For a government that has commendably rolled out series of palliatives and stimulus packages to cushion the effect of Covid-19 on the populace as well as strategic sectors of the nation’s economy, the effect of the increase in pump price of petrol will undermine the effort towards national recovery.

“The increase in pump price of petrol will impact on transport cost and cost of living in general. Transport fares have already gone up following reduction in number of passengers by transporters in compliance with social distancing regulation. Nigeria therefore stands the risk of witnessing higher increase in Covid-19 cases due to possible non-adherence to social distancing by transporters as a result of the increase in price of petrol and associated hike in the cost of transportation.”

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