The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, Rivers State chapter, has condemned the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government, stating that it was ill-timed.
The union said the introduction of the deregulation without appropriate and legal framework was worrisome.
In a statement issued on Thursday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Chairman of TUC, Mr. Chika Onuegbu, stated that the hike came at a time Nigeria was passing through economic hardship.
Onuegbu maintained that it was also wrong for the FG to “outrageously” fix prices for the petroleum products, describing it as cut-throat prices.
He noted that the subsidy removal was not captured in the 2016 budget, stating that the government had told the people that the prices of fuel would be reduced further.
Onuegbu, however, called on the national body of TUC to summon an emergency meeting, noting that the issue at stake needed swift attention.
“We are tempted by the underhanded manner the purported fuel subsidy was removed to believe that government deliberately created a huge supply gap and subjected Nigerians to months of buying petroleum products at outrageous prices so as to justify the removal of fuel subsidy as a solution to the current fuel price debacle.
“We drew the attention of government to the fact that there is no provision for petroleum subsidy in the 2016 budget and sought to know the plan of government, and we were variously assured by government that there was no plan for deregulation or removal of fuel subsidy.
“We therefore respectfully call on the National Secretariat of TUC Nigeria to convene an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Trade union Congress of Nigeria on this and other burning issues such as the continued disobedience of Court Order on the 45 percent hike in electricity tariff.”
(Punch)
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