The Nigeria Labour Congress, on Thursday chided the World Bank over its charge to the Federal Government to increase the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit popularly called petrol to N750/litre.
NLC Head of Information, Benson Upah, in an interview with The PUNCH, warned the Federal Government against heeding the advice of the World Bank, saying that any further increase in the price of petrol would lead to anarchy in the country.
Upah called on the 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.
Also, some oil marketers explained that the cost of PMS should be around N1,000/litre had it been that the government not subsidising the product.
The government in a swift reaction on Thursday, denied the claims of marketers and the World Bank as regards the reintroduction of subsidy on petrol in Nigeria.
The World Bank had on Wednesday, asked the Federal Government to stop the subsidy payment on petrol and raise the cost of the product to N750/litre.
The Bank says it suspected that the Federal Government might still be paying the subsidy as fuel prices in Nigeria were currently not cost-reflective, stressing that Nigerians should pay about N750/litre for PMS as against the current price of N650/litre.
The World Bank’s lead economist for Nigeria, Alex Sienaert, had in Abuja during his presentation of the Nigeria Development Update, December 2023 Edition, averred that the continuous payment of petrol subsidy by the government.
“It does seem like petrol prices are not fully adjusting to market conditions. So, that hints at the partial return of the subsidy if we estimate what is the cost reflective of the retail PMS price of the would-be and assume that importation is done at the official FX rate.
“Of course, the liberalisation is happening with the parallel rates, which is the main supplier, the price would be even higher. These are just estimates to give you a sense of what cost-reflective pricing most likely looks like.
“We think the price of petrol should be around N750/litre more than the N650/litre currently paid by Nigerians,” he stated.
The NLC while reacting to statement of the World Bank, declared that a further hike in the price of fuel would be an automatic invitation to anarchy.
Upah described the World Bank as a predatory institution that does not care about the welfare of Nigerians, stressing that the initial increment in the pump price of PMS had caused enough problems in Nigeria.
“The World Bank is globalist north in thoughts and actions and has little or no consideration for the global south. It is a predatory institution that the global north uses to justify its crimes against the south.
