Organised Labour in Kwara State, North Central Nigeria, has criticised petroleum products marketers in the state for what it described as incessant hike in the prices of premium motor spirit (PMS) and other petroleum products.
It said a research carried out recently showed that the pump price of fuel in Kwara is higher than what is obtainable in the neighbouring states, adding that the arbitrary increase is unjustifiable since the state is close to Lagos State where petroleum products are loaded.
The Chairman of Kwara state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Aliyu Issa Ore and his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Comrade Joseph Tunde, said this in a joint statement issued in Ilorin to commemorate Christmas celebration.
The statement, which noted that the hike in the petroleum products is telling on the income/salaries of workers, urged the government to deploy its machinery to look into the unstable price of PMS and other petroleum products in the state.
The statement reads:
“The organised labour in Kwara State under the auspices of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) wishes to felicitate the entire workforce and the citizens of Kwara State on the occasion of Christmas celebration.
“However, the movement wishes to draw the attention of the state government to the incessant increase in the price of PMS and other petroleum products by the independent marketers in the state.
“The research carried out by the labour revealed that the cost of pump price in Kwara State is higher than the cost of the product in neighbouring States despite the fact that the state is very close to Lagos State where the marketers upload the products.
“The organised labour condemns in totality, the unethical practice of the marketers, which had brought untold hardship on the masses and call on the government of the day, as a matter of urgency, deploy necessary machineries to look into the issue of this unstable price of PMS and other petroleum products in the country, particularly Kwara State as this is really affecting the workers/masses and biting harder into the meagre income/salaries, which has no value in the system”.
