The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called for a return to the June 2023 prices of fuel.

Festus Osifo, the President of TUC, stated this at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday, October 10, 2024. “We want the price of petrol to go below what it was before; not just reverse to what it was before but below.”

He requested that the government take specific action in the industry by providing Dangote Refinery with foreign exchange at a rate of $1/N1,000 rather than the existing rate of more than 1/N1,600, which would cause petrol prices to crash.

“The proposed solution, if executed, would return us to our June last year fuel price,” Osifo said, emphasizing that “no government in the world does not intervene in its critical sector” and that the Federal Government “shouldn’t leave it (the oil sector) to the vagaries and gyration of our naira.”

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) raised the pump price of petrol in Lagos from ₦184 to ₦998 starting in May 2023. As of June 2023, the cost of a liter of petrol in Lagos was approximately ₦450.

The TUC head insisted on Thursday that gasoline should be affordable, readily available, and available to all Nigerians, stating that all Nigerian households, even those without a cheap, used car, need this basic necessity.

The trade union made the following demands: “We want the Federal Government to give licenses to all marketers to lift petrol from the Dangote Refinery through the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).” The demands were centered around accessibility, affordability, and availability.

If the Dangote Refinery is unable to supply Nigerians with refined gasoline regularly, Osifo stated that the NNPCL should look for gasoline elsewhere. “There is a problem if it is not available. For instance, if the Dangote Refinery produces less than 15 million liters per day, it is insufficient.

Thus, even as the Dangote Refinery is working to increase production, we insist that, in addition to this, we search for alternative ways to make up for the shortfall and bring it in temporarily until Dangote can reach a production level that will allow its products to reach every corner of Nigeria. It will address the availability issue, which is important to us,” the TUC President said.

Nigerians were dealt yet another blow when NNPC retail shops in Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, changed the price of gasoline at the pump on Wednesday morning October 9, 2024.

According to the Channels correspondent in Lagos, a lot of NNPCL stores were charging ₦998 for a litre of the necessary goods, which is around ₦150 more than the ₦855 starting price. Snake-like lineups have swarmed fuel stations as a result of the abrupt hike, sending drivers and transporters into panic buying mode.

Many fuel stations that are not operated by the NNPCL promptly adopted a similar strategy, gradually raising their pump prices. In several areas of Lagos, these stations were selling as much as ₦1050. The scenario remained the same in Abuja, with NNPCL retail outlets raising the price of the necessary goods from ₦897 to ₦1,030.

The new rise came after the NNPCL’s September 2, 2024, hike. The retail company incited controversy by raising the price of gasoline per liter from ₦568 to ₦855. The NNPCL hinted at a new price hike when it started loading its first batch of gasoline from the Dangote Refinery in mid-September, even though the company has not released an official announcement regarding the most recent increase in gas pricing.

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