IYC backs NLC on rejection of proposed hike in fuel price

 

The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide has supported a move by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to reject Federal Government’s plan to remove subsidy on petrol and subsequently increase the pump price of fuel to N234 per litre.

It described the proposed increase in fuel prices from between N165 and N170 to N234 as a sign of failure and inconsistent economic policies of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

The foremost Ijaw youths’ group, in a statement on Sunday by its national spokesman, Ebilade Ekerefe, described the proposal as a deliberate attempt to worsen the miseries of Nigerians, including the institutionalisation of poverty, unemployment and insecurity.

Ekerefe said although the claim by the Federal Government that the N120billion monthly subsidy for the estimated 60 million litres of petrol the country consumed daily was not feasible, Niger Delta people should be allowed to explore and refine their oil, to produce what they could consume and bring down the price.

The IYC spokesman alleged that the insincerity of the President Buhari-led administration is glaring in the inconsistencies in governance with huge cost of spending and wasteful allocation of resources among the three tiers of government to the detriment of Nigerians.

He said: “The government is embarking on an economically-devastating mission with the continuous drama on the pump price of petrol. The IYC is ready to call out its members to support the NLC in whatever action deemed fit.