• NNPCL reduces fuel price three days after Dangote Refinery’s cut
• Partner Dangote for cheaper petrol, Alaje tells FG

Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) has faulted the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for demanding higher wages and allowances for workers following the Middle East conflict.

Meanwhile, three days after Dangote Refinery’s gantry fuel price drop, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) retail outlets reduced their petrol price.

With the development, the Federal Government has been called upon to partner with Dangote to achieve a significant reduction in petrol prices.

Organised Labour had, among other demands, called for the payment of wage awards and the introduction of new allowances for civil servants to ease the burden of rising living costs. It also urged the government to suspend taxes for low-income earners, suggesting that the anticipated increase in oil revenue should be used to provide immediate relief.

However, in a policy statement signed by its Chairman, Dr Omoniyi Akinsiju, the Nigerian policy group argued that such demands were ill-timed, given the economic reforms undertaken by the present administration since 2023.

The group maintained that the government had been implementing measures to stabilise the economy and address structural challenges, which it said require time to yield sustainable results.

It further contended that conceding to NLC’s demands could undermine ongoing reform efforts by placing additional pressure on public finances.

Prioritising immediate wage increases and tax relief without corresponding productivity gains, it warned, could widen fiscal deficits and weaken the broader economic recovery strategy.

CHECKS yesterday showed that NNPCL’s filling stations in Abuja adjusted their prices down to N1,295 per litre from N1,361. This means that NNPCL retail outlets dropped their petrol price by N71 per litre.

The drop came three days after Dangote Refinery reduced the price of petrol at its gantry by N85, to N1,200 per litre, from N1,285.

Meanwhile, the Dangote-backed MRS filling station had yet to reduce its retail fuel pump price (N1,367 per litre) by the time this report was filed.

Also, Ranoil, Empire Energy, Emedab and Total filling stations had not reviewed their prices downward but dispensing petrol between N1370 and N1395 per litre.

Therefore, the Chief Economist at SPM Professionals, Dr Paul Alaje, advised the Federal Government to partner the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in providing palliatives to the masses following the escalation of the Middle East crisis.

He gave the advice when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief yesterday.

According to him, returning the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol to N800 per litre before the war would go a long way in ameliorating suffering among Nigerians.

“Before the war, Dangote Refinery had slashed prices to N800 per barrel. Now that prices are soaring, what that means is that the cost of living will keep soaring, and food prices will escalate.\

“We have seen governors such as Seyi Makinde announcing some sort of N10,000 support. It’s something, though relatively small. We encourage other states to do the same.

“What we should do is partner Dangote. What was the cost of crude to Dangote before the war? Can we maintain that price as a subsidy to Nigerians? And then instruct that for everybody who is buying from Dangote, there should be a specific price at which the products should be sold,” he said.