FG to meet with governors on petrol, electricity prices

On Thursday, the federal government will meet with state governors and the National Petroleum Corporation of Nigeria (NNPC) to find a solution to the petrol pricing problem.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige revealed the date of the meeting to journalists on Monday at the conclusion of a meeting between the federal government and organized labour.

The conference is a continuation of a series of meetings held in 2020 to convince labor unions to take strike action to lift petroleum and energy rates.

The meeting with organized labour was peaceful and productive, Ngige said.

“As for the issue of the price of PMS, it is a work in progress. The governors are to discuss this on Thursday at the National Economic Council and hopefully they will be a way out of the situation,” he said.

He also said that both sides have agreed to give more time to explore ways of tinkering with the domestic fuel price fixing template.

On the electricity tariff problem, Ngige said the report was well received by both sides, and the committee was asked to continue further work on the grey areas.

He stated that the meeting with labour leaders has been adjourned till April, after the Easter celebration.

Speaking on the outcome of the meeting, Ayuba Wabba, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), said the union was able to point out areas of the report on PMS pricing that it was not in agreement with.

Wabba also said labour is not comfortable with the import pricing method in use.

“This means that we import 100 percent of all the PMS used in the country, whereas we have refineries,” he said.

“The reports were presented and we pointed out areas that we are not comfortable with and also made some suggestion which will form the basis of decisions on the matter.

The federal government introduced a price modulation scheme in 2020, in which crude oil prices are set in line with global market events.

This has contributed to a rise in the price of petrol, a trend against which labour activists have opposed.