Roundup: Nigerian ruling party urges citizens to disregard strike

Nigeria's ruling party has urged citizens to disregard the call for strike by the Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) regarding the increase in price of fuel.

Regional chairman of the party Prince Hilliard Eta made the call in a statement released to newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja, the nation's capital city.

The price modulation by the government is a timely intervention in the oil sector, he said, noting market forces would soon crash the high price, as a result of the deregulation.

"We call on all well-meaning compatriots to rally in support of deregulation," he added.

"We are convinced that given the opportunity, the deregulation policy will yield positive dividends in the short and long run," he said.

According to him, market forces are in action to crash the price of petrol as government is no longer directly involved in price fixing.

The party chieftain said the subsidy was intended as a palliative measure by government to cushion the effect of the relatively high cost of petrol and related products.

"However, in a bizarre twist, most of the people involved in the importation, distribution and marketing of petroleum products blatantly indulge in underhand practices to create a never-ending artificial scarcity," he added.

The Nigerian government said the new price, introduced a week ago with immediate effect, was in the interest of the country, as the government could no longer afford the foreign exchange spent by the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to import petrol.

Due to the fall in the price of crude oil in global market, Nigeria's earnings had dropped to about 550 million U.S dollars in April, while the amount required for fuel importation alone is about half that amount.

Meanwhile, a faction of the Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) has threatened to ground flight operations at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos from Thursday, if the government refuses to revert the pump price of petrol.

Adelegan Solomon, Vice-President of NLC, made this known while addressing protesters at the MMIA over the government's removal of fuel subsidy.

Solomon, who is also the President of the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUCPTRE), urged Nigerians to unanimously reject the hike in fuel price.

According to him, the 145 naira per liter announced by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) will further increase the suffering of ordinary Nigerians.

He said Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) were members of AUCPTRE, adding that arrangements have been perfected to ground flight operations at the airport from Thursday.

Flight operations were hitch-free on Wednesday at both the international and domestic wings of the airport, despite an early morning protest by the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE).

Employees of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), also resumed at their offices, as directed by the government.

Victoria Menta, Commissioner of Police, Lagos Airport Police Command, who deployed officers around strategic locations at the airport, later met with the union members and enjoined them to be peaceful.

However, some travelers were left stranded for several hours, due to the traffic caused by the protesters. Endit