As the pump price approaches #350  per litre, IPMAN and the NLC oppose the elimination of subsidies

Following President Tinubu's recent announcement on gasoline subsidies, certain petroleum marketers have either shut down or raised the price of PMS to as high as 350 per litre.During the newly sworn-in President's inaugural speech, he announced the elimination of petroleum subsidies, triggering a chain of events that has resulted in petroleum marketers closing their stations and others arbitrarily raising the prices of their products as uncertainty looms in the sector.The move which has put the entire downstream sector of the petroleum industry into a frenzy has attracted knocks from stakeholders as some have called for a quick review of the action before more damage is done. Checks on some filling stations in Lagos revealed most marketers have increased the price of PMS from ₦180 to as high as ₦350 while some unconfirmed sources have mentioned some stations even sell as high as ₦400 The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC while reacting to the statement, rejected the move saying the union was not aware of the President’s decision. This was confirmed in a statement by the head of the information department of the NLC, Comrade Benson Upah. The NLC information boss who described the move as a very dicey one with grave implications also stated that the union would keenly follow up with the pronouncement before responding. The body of petroleum marketers, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN has also rejected the President's decision to enforce subsidy removal.