Lawmakers in the House of Representatives have condemned the actions of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government, which have resulted in the increase in pump prices of petroleum products.
The lawmakers on Wednesday demanded an urgent reversal of the hike in fuel and cooking gas prices, citing severe hardship on Nigerians and threats to job security.
A motion moved by Deputy Minority Leader Aliyu Madaki and sponsored by 111 members of the House called for the immediate reversal of the price increase.
The lawmakers have called on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to increase local refining capacity. They have also called for the implementation of monetary policies by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to mitigate the adverse effects of fuel price hikes on inflation.
It can be recalled that President Tinubu officially ended petrol subsidy of petroleum products in May 2023, increasing PMS prices from N175 per liter to over N1000 across the country.
Meanwhile, the World Bank recently warned that further increases in petrol prices may reverse the dwindling effects of subsidy removal in Nigeria. The October edition of its Africa’s Pulse report states, “While the inflationary effects of a weakened naira in the first months of this year and the removal of the gasoline subsidy in the second half of 2023 appeared to be gradually subsiding, a further increase in gasoline prices by 40-45 percent in September may reverse the disinflationary trend.”