The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has warned against any fuel price increase, saying it would deal with the Federal Government the way it dealt with its predecessor if it went ahead with the increase against its agreement with the organised labour.
Minister of National Planning, Senator Sanusi Daggash, had said during his presentation at a forum organised by The Initiative, a think-tank in the House of Representatives, that the Federal Government had concluded plans to remove subsidies on petroleum and other social services, which would automatically lead to fuel price increase.
But presenting the position of the NLC to the Nigerian Tribune, Assistant Secretary of the congress, Mr. Olaitan Oyerinde, said the statement by the minister did not represent the official government position because it was against the agreement signed by the Federal Government with labour.
The NLC stated that the minister should touch base with government to get the reality of government position, and it called on President Umaru Yar�Adua to call the minister to order.
Oyerinde said that the statement was capable of causing confussion, saying if the Federal Government had used that as a kite, the organised labour would deal with it like it dealt with the immediate past government.
In a related development, the Federal Government has no immediate plan to increase prices of petroleum products until July.
Minister of State (Petroleum) in the Ministry of Energy, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia, said this on Thursday.
He was speaking during a live television programme monitored in Abuja. According to him, the current price of petroleum products would subsist till the end of June 2008 in line with the agreement reached between the Federal Government and leaders of labour in the country.
The minister said that President Umaru Yar�Adua had directed that any increase in the prices of petroleum products must only be taken after exhaustive consultation, deliberation and agreement with labour leaders.