A former vice president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Issa Aremu, has described the latest increase in the pump price of petrol by the PPMC as insensitive and uncalled-for.
He warned that increasing the pump price of petrol at a time many citizens were going through severe economic hardship could trigger another round of civil unrest, saying it would not augur well for the country.
Aremu gave the warning on Saturday on the sidelines of the three-day prayer held in honour of the late former governor of old Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa.
He stressed that with the increase of petrol pump price, the Federal Government’s policy on deregulation might take the country to the path of a governance crisis.
The labour leader stated that creating a new template of price increase at a moment when the country was coming out of a protest and crisis of economic hardship would amount to the highest point of insensitivity on the part of the government.
He, however, said there was a need for the organised labour and the National Assembly to engage the executive arm of government on how best to go about with the pricing modulation in the petroleum sector in order not to put the masses into endless hardship.
Aremu called for the fixing of the refineries rather than imposing new prices which he noted were not in the best interest of the ordinary people.
He reacted to the decision of the governors of Lagos and Kwara States to stop the payment of pension to former governors and their deputies.
The labour leader challenged politicians to emulate the leadership qualities of late Balarabe Musa who put public interest above his personal benefit.
(Channels)
