The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has accused the Dangote Group and oil marketers of collaborating to inflate the price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) to exploit Nigerians.
This accusation was made public in a communiqué released by the NLC on Sunday, following its National Executive Council meeting held on Friday.
The union highlighted that the current petrol price, ranging from N1,060 to N1,200 per liter, exceeds the market value. According to the NLC, these elevated prices reflect widespread cost padding and excessive profit margins within Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, to the detriment of Nigerian citizens.
In response, the NLC urged the Nigerian government to promptly operationalize the Port Harcourt refinery and other state-owned refineries.
“The NEC-in-session noted with increasing dismay the shenanigans around the appropriate pricing of petrol (PMS) in Nigeria.
“It was observed that there may be a gang-up against Nigerians by fat cats in the industry as the current price of the product is significantly higher than the real market price.
“Padding of costs and abnormal margins seems to be the order of the day considering the revelations from the
ongoing controversy between Marketers and Dangote Group.
“It is entirely possible that Nigerian workers and masses are being ripped off by those who control the levers of economic power in Nigeria, which explains why the domestic public refineries may not immediately be allowed to come on stream.
“NLC demands appropriate pricing of petrol and calls for the public domestic refineries in PH, Warri, and Kaduna to quickly come back on stream to break up the monopolistic stranglehold the big players have on the industry,” NLC stated.
In recent days, a dispute has arisen between petroleum marketers and Dangote Refinery regarding petrol prices.
According to Daily Post, Dangote Group announced that its petrol was priced at N960 to N990 per liter. However, petroleum marketers argued that imported petrol is less expensive than Dangote’s fuel.
In response, Dangote Refinery accused marketers of importing low-cost, substandard fuel, a claim the marketers denied.
Recent data from the Major Energy Marketers Association indicated that the landing cost of imported petrol was N971 per liter.