Fuel Price Hike: CNPP Faults FG’s Fixation on Labour

 Fuel Price Hike: CNPP Faults FG’s Fixation on Labour

The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has faulted the Federal Government’s decision to only hold talks with organized labour over the increase in the price of petrol pointing out that the decision portrays a government that is out of tune with contemporary realities and is fixated on the labour movement.

A statement issued by the conference on Tuesday in Abuja said the Federal Government acted on the false assumption that labour, is all it needed to explain the pain inducing sale of petrol at N145 per litre, while the reverse was the case.

The statement signed by CNPP’s General Secretary, Chief Willy Ezugwu warned that the masses would take over the streets in protests that will dwarf the 2012 Occupy Nigeria mass action to show their disaffection with the government’s insensitivity in increasing the pump price of petrol and its disdain for the populace by only holding talks with the organized labour.

It explained that the conference is ready to present compelling fact to the government on why it must immediately reverse its unacceptable decision and that it was confident the decision would not stand in the face of the reality it means for the masses.

CNPP said, “While the organized labour represented those that have jobs and who constitute a smaller percentage of the country with endemic unemployment they do not in any way have the locus to speak for the rest of the population to the extent of approving a punishment to be meted to them without first consulting them.

“We wonder if the government’s meeting with labour considered unemployed applicants whose prospect of job hunting have been reduced by increased transportation cost; whether the meeting mentioned students who are not members of labour but must now part with their feeding money to supplement transportation; and whether the hundreds of thousands of self-employed and small scale enterprises employees that are not affiliated with labour unions approved of taking this punishment.

“The feedback the CNPP got from its member political parties is that their own members reject the price increase particularly when the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has clarified that it was not deregulation but some other contraption that is making life difficult.

“The ineffectiveness of the N145 cap, as some outlets sell above the price, has further proven that the price increase is a fraud that must be resisted”.

It urged political parties, the civil society and all patriotic Nigerians to be prepared to be part of mass actions that will last for as long as it will take the federal government to reverse its anti-people decision and that they must immediately start with online campaigns prior to taking to the streets.

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