FG Bows to Labour, Reduces Petrol Price by N5

The federal government has caved in to the demand by the organised labour by slashing the pump price of petrol by N5.

By this reduction, the new price of a litre of petrol will now be N162.44.

The government said the new price template will come into effect as from Monday next week.

Addressing journalists shortly after the meeting with labour leaders that lasted till midnight, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, said that the meeting was fruitful.

He said: “Our discussion was fruitful and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which is the major importer and marketers of petroleum product, and customers have agreed that there will be a slide down of the pump price of PMS and that the price cut will get us about N5 per litre and that the price cut will take effect from next Monday, a week today,”

Ngige however said that the price reduction was not meant to suspend deregulation because it did not affect the price of crude oil but on areas where the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC as the main importer has agreed that it cut cost like freight cost and demurrage.

He said that the new price slash was a product of a joint committee of NNPC and labour representatives who look into ways of cutting costs.

On the aspect of electricity tariff, both sides agreed to wait till the next meeting date of January 25 to enable the special committee deal with complaints to conclude their deliberations.

On the side of labour, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, corroborated the position of the minister, saying what he said was the agreement reached by both sides.