The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has urged the federal government to deploy excess crude revenue to subsidise petroleum products as fuel prices continue to rise across the country.
Festus Osifo, president of the union, made the call on Friday, warning that the surge in petrol prices has worsened the cost of living and eroded the purchasing power of Nigerian workers.
“Today, we are seeing that the cost of petrol is edging towards N2,000 per litre, depending on the part of the country,” he said, adding that the situation has “deeply affected the pockets of Nigerian workers”.
Osifo attributed the increase to external factors, including the ongoing conflict involving Israel and Iran, which has pushed up global crude oil prices.
To cushion the impact, he proposed that the government should channel excess earnings from crude oil sales into subsidising supply to the Dangote Refinery.
“Whenever crude oil price goes above the projected benchmark in the budget, it leads to excess funds. Government should take at least 60 percent of that excess fund and use it to subsidise the crude being supplied to Dangote refinery,” he said.
According to him, reducing the cost of crude supplied to the refinery would lower production costs and, ultimately, bring down the pump price of petrol.
“When the cost of that feedstock reduces, it means the country price is also going to reduce,” Osifo added.
The call comes amid a fresh hike in fuel prices by the Dangote refinery.
On Tuesday, a top official at the facility said the refinery adjusted its pricing in response to prevailing international crude oil benchmarks and market realities.
The new pricing template shows that petrol rose by N75 per litre to N1,275, representing an increase of about 5.02 percent, while diesel jumped by N200 per litre to N1,950.
This marks a sharp increase from last month’s prices of N1,200 per litre for petrol and N1,750 for diesel, signalling that diesel is now on track to breach the N2,000 per litre mark at the pump, further intensifying cost pressures across the economy.
