THE Trade Union Congress (TUC) has berated the Federal Government over its decision to adopt price modulation for the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise called petrol.

A statement by the President of TUC, Bobboi Kaigama and Secretary General, Musa, said the price modulation, which subjects the price of petrol to market forces, contradicts the campaign promises of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

The statement read in part: “The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) charges the Federal Government to realize that promises made to citizens are tantamount to social contracts between it and the citizens and must be held in sanctity. This is the case with the issue of price modulation of premium motor spirit popularly known as petrol. The Congress had thought all the promises made during the electioneering campaigns would be kept. Little did we know that the masses were again going to be disappointed.”

TUC said it believes that Nigerians voted for the present administration because it promised to address issues such challenges in the oil and gas sector, insecurity and insurgency, rescue of the abducted Chibok school girls from the clutches of the Boko Haram sect, arrest depreciation of the Naira, payment of token welfare package of N5,000 to unemployed persons, creation of job opportunities for the army of youths among other pledges.

It added: “Considering the drastic fall in the price of crude in the international market, we expected that the pump price of fuel would be reduced by at least 40 percent instead of the infinitesimal and inhuman reduction that the government recently announced. It is most disappointing that the government reduced the price by just N1 and 50k at filling stations respectively owned by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the independent marketers. For over a decade we had raised our voice against the mono-cultural nature of our economy and appealed to government to diversify it but they took no such warnings seriously, and here we are like prodigal sons.”

TUC stated that prior to the elections, Nigerians were told that there was nothing like oil subsidy, asking, “how is it then that the Minister of State for Petroleum and Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu now tells us that the country can no longer subsidize fuel because of fraud involved in the operation of the policy and the fact that the Federal Government’s earnings has drastically deteriorated due to fallen price of crude?”

The central labour centre declared that it would hold the present administration accountable on its promise not to tinker with the subsidy arrangement.

“Its latest move betrays our trust. It is as well illegal and diversionary, given the fact that avowed conditions precedent for effecting the removal as suggested by the Congress over the years have not been met. For us the focus of the government should be on how to refine petroleum products in Nigeria, and not to further impoverish Nigerians through any guise. Thus the payment of monies to cronies to rehabilitate refineries that have nonetheless rarely functioned at up to 30 percent of installed capacity must cease forthwith,” it stated.