Unions Kick Against Proposed Petrol Price Hike

The two industrial unions in the oil and gas sector, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), have jointly kicked against the proposed increase in pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol by the Federal Government.
The two unions in a statement in Abuja last Wednesday after their leadership appearance before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of Pump Price of Petroleum Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) maintained that this is not the right time for the government to review the pricing template of PMS. The unions further maintained that the recession is biting hard on all Nigerians without abating and urged the government to come out with a better policy to take the nation out of the recession. The unions argued that any attempt to review the existing template of the petrol price will impoverish ordinary Nigerians as the additional price will be transferred to the users of the product.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the National Commercial Tricycle and Motorcyde owners & Riders Association (NACTOMORAS) have asked the Federal Government to review downward the pump price of petrol from the present litre price of N145 to N87 per litre price.
According to a joint statement by the President Comrade Najeem Usman Yasin and NACTOMORAS National President Comrade Mohammed Sani Hassan respectively in Abuja on Wednesday said that the associations rather preferred a downward review of the petrol price than any planned hike in pump price.
The Unions said that despite the increases in petrol pump price, the country had ended up with bad roads, power failure, unemployment poverty as well as deterioration in living condition without anything to show for the huge millions of naira being additional revenue from the previous hike on pump price.
The unions said Nigerians are passing through hardship especially members of the unions who are the grassroots.