Petrol, Electricity Price Increase: Nigerian governors meeting over planned workers’ strike

Nigerian governors say they want to mediate in the dispute between the federal government on the hike in fuel prices and electricity tariffs.

 

Ahead of the nationwide protest scheduled by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) for Monday to protest the hike in petrol and electricity prices, state governors will hold an emergency meeting today (Thursday) to attempt to halt the action.

 

The secretariat of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum in a statement on Wednesday by its spokesperson, Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, said the online meeting will start at 6 p. m.

 

Mr Bello-Barkindo said the NGF at the meeting would attempt to mediate in the dispute between the federal government and the organised labour over the hikes.

 

Following the recent adjustment of the retail price of petrol to over N160 per litre and the review of electricity tariff by over 100 per cent, the NLC threatened to call a national protest if the federal government refused to reverse the new prices.

 

The NLC said a nationwide protest would hold on Monday, September 28.

 

NLC took its position after a meeting with the federal government on the issue last week ended in a deadlock.

 

The government justified the new fuel price and electricity tariff, despite the obvious difficulties they would cause the people in the face of a harsh economic situation as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

The government said the new fuel price was a product of the interplay of market forces under the deregulation policy in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, following the removal of fuel subsidy from the pricing template by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

 

The government insisted that the deregulation policy and new electricity tariff were inevitable, as it could no longer subsidise fuel price due to dwindling revenues.

 

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has said it is ready to join the NLC in shutting down the economy and the country from Monday if the petrol price and electricity tariff hikes are not reversed.