Benson Upah, the spokesperson for the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has raised concerns that Nigerians could soon be paying as much as N5,000 per liter for petrol if the current government policies continue unchecked.
In a recent interview with Weekend Trust, Upah expressed deep concern over the escalating fuel prices, calling the situation a clear violation of the agreements that were made between the NLC and President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Upah highlighted that the ongoing rise in petrol prices is directly related to the government’s failure to restore fuel subsidies, despite claims to the contrary.
He pointed out that there was never a genuine attempt to reinstate the subsidy, which has left the Nigerian public vulnerable to further increases in fuel costs.
The spokesperson questioned the rationale behind the dramatic increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which has already climbed from N650 per liter to potentially as high as N1,500 or N2,000.
He warned that this trend could worsen, leaving Nigerians to bear the burden of skyrocketing fuel costs.
Upah stressed that if the situation remains unchanged, Nigerians could eventually be forced to pay up to N5,000 per liter for petrol, a scenario he hopes the country can avoid.
However, he also emphasized that the responsibility will ultimately rest with the people of Nigeria to decide how to respond if such drastic price increases come to pass.
“I want to tell you something, what this signals is that Nigerians have not seen the end yet, we may end up paying nothing less than N5,000 per liter for fuel in this country. We hope not to get there but if we get there, the decision will be left to Nigerians,” he noted
