Ajaero: Petrol price hike harmful to N70k minimum wage — it must be resisted

Joe Ajaero, president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), says the recent petrol price hike is “inimical” to the N70,000 minimum wage recently approved for workers.

Speaking in an interview with Arise Television on Friday, Ajaero said the organs of the labour union will meet next week to decide their line of action on the petrol price hike.

On Wednesday, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited increased the price of petrol across its retail outlets.

In Lagos, the petrol price jumped to N998 per litre, while in Abuja, it rose to N1,003.

In July, President Bola Tinubu signed the minimum wage bill, increasing the workers’ pay package from N30,000 to N70,000, into law.

The price of petrol was around N700 per litre when the minimum wage bill was signed into law.

The federal government is yet to implement the minimum wage for its workers at the national level, while many states have also not started paying the new pay package.

‘WE’LL FIGHT NEW PETROL PRICE HIKE’

The NLC president said the new petrol price hike will be resisted, noting that the new minimum wage was agreed upon when the pump price was N700 per litre.

“Bringing up issues like the increase in the pump price of petroleum products, which will be inimical to the substance of the minimum wage, needs to be fought even before the implementation of the minimum wage,” Ajaero said.

“We agreed on a minimum wage when petrol was being sold at N700, and before it was implemented, petrol is now N1000 something.

“It is a question of having two logs of wood on the ground. You have to remove one on top before the one next to it.

“We have the power, the way we agreed on this minimum wage, to say this imposition (new petrol price) will affect the new minimum wage if it is N70,000, and that is the course of action we are about to take.

“By next week, we should be able to meet and have a conversation about this (petrol price hike). So that the personal view of the leader does not becloud the position of the members.”