The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has kicked against the proposal of the World Bank to increase the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly called petrol to N750/litre, News About Nigeria reports.
The Congress warned the Federal Government on Thursday to discard the proposal, stating that it would lead to anarchy in the country.
Benson Upah, NLC’s Head of Information, while speaking in an interview with Punch, noted that any further attempt at increasing the price of petrol would be disastrous to the country.
He therefore urged the federal government to reject the proposal of the World Bank that petrol should sell at about N750/litre, as against the current rate of between N620 and N650/litre in most locations across the country.
Recall that the World Bank on Wednesday asked the Federal Government to stop the subsidy payment on petrol and raise the cost of the product to N750 per litre.
The World Bank’s lead economist for Nigeria, Alex Sienaert, claimed during his presentation of the Nigeria Development Update, December 2023 Edition, in Abuja that the government was still paying fuel subsidy.
According to him, the Federal Government might still be paying the subsidy as fuel prices in Nigeria are currently not cost-reflective, maintaining that Nigerians should pay about N750/litre for PMS as against the current price of N650/litre.
Reacting to this, Upah described the World Bank as a predatory institution, adding that it does not care about the welfare of Nigerians, as the initial increment in the pump price of PMS had caused enough problems in Nigeria.
According to him, the World Bank is almost single-handedly responsible for the ruining of the economies of countries of the global south for which it prescribes one solution for all ailments.
