The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has made a passionate appeal to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to grant the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) a special foreign exchange rate.
This move, according to the TUC, would significantly reduce the cost of petrol importation and lead to a drop in fuel prices nationwide.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today program on Monday, TUC President Festus Osifo emphasized that the current official exchange rate of ₦1,600/$ is unsustainable and has led to an increase in fuel prices.
“If NNPCL is granted a special forex rate of about ₦1000/$, the cost of petrol importation will crash, and fuel prices will drop to around ₦600,” Osifo explained.
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Osifo, who is also the President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), attributed the high fuel prices to the devaluation of the naira, rather than the removal of petrol subsidy in May 2023.
“The ultimate elephant in the room is devaluation,” he stated, adding that petrol would be selling at around ₦350 if the naira had not been devaluated.
The TUC boss argued that despite the recent adjustment of petrol pump prices, subsidy is still being shouldered by NNPCL.
“If you give a special rate to NNPC, you don’t need to pay for subsidy anymore,” Osifo said, citing the example of Dangote Refinery, which was granted a special rate to sell petrol.
Osifo emphasized that the special rate would enable marketers to purchase petrol from Dangote Refinery at a reduced rate, leading to a decrease in fuel prices. “It is about the exchange rate, and that is what we have propounded over time,” he concluded.
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