TUC kicks as NNPC says petrol subsidy ends in Feb, petrol to sell @ N340/l

Petrol will be sold between N320 and N340 per litre from February, next year when fuel subsidy is expected to have been eliminated, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, has said.

Kyari also said Nigeria would be out of the subsidy regime in the first quarter of 2022.

But the Trade Union Congress has warned the Federal Government against unilateral removal or stoppage of petrol subsidy regime.

The NNPCL boss spoke in Abuja at the presentation of the November edition of the World Bank Nigeria Development Update, titled: “Time for Business Unusual.”

Kyari said, “There will be no provision for it legally in our system, but I am also sure you will appreciate that government has a bigger social responsibility to cater for the ordinary and therefore engage in a process that will ensure that we exit in the most subtle and easy manner.”

He said fuel subsidy removal would be achieved in 2022 as it was now fully backed by law, adding that the price of the product could range between N320 and N340 per litre.

The TUC however said the FG should be prepared for war should it unilaterally remove petrol subsidy next year without organised Labour’s input.

The congress warned that such action, if taken without meeting labour’s demand, would be met with resistance.

The TUC President Quadri Olaleye in a message sent to The Nation’s reporter expressed shock that the government was thinking of dropping subsidy when a tripartite committee set up by government has not completed its work.

The tripartite committee on petrol last met in February this year with the government side demanding for more time to consult on the demands of Labour.

The FG has not reconvened the meeting since then.

The TUC president said, “First a big surprise that government is thinking of removal of fuel subsidy when there is a tripartite committee of labour employers on-going and its work has not been concluded.

“There are conditions precedent that have been discussed which have not been met by government. Any unilateral removal of subsidy without meeting labour demand will be resisted.”