NLC Declares nationwide Strike over Cash Crunch

The Nigeria Labour Congress has directed public sector workers in the country to commence an indefinite strike from Wednesday next week.

He also directed that affiliate unions constituting the Nigeria Labour Congress should also be on standby for picketing exercises across all branches of the Central Bank of Nigeria nationwide.

The directive followed the expiration of one week ultimatum by the Congress last week.

NLC had criticised the cash swap policy of the Federal Government and the persistent petrol scarcity across the country.

NLC President, Joe Ajaero said the decision to picket the CBN branches became necessary, as the Federal Government and the CBN have not shown any commitment to address the situation.

He lamented that despite the Supreme Court order allowing the old N500 and N1000 notes to circulate with the new notes till December 31 this year, the situation appears to be getting worse as workers cannot access cash to pay fares to work or buy food for their families.

At a news conference in Abuja, NLC also criticised the irregularities and continued scarcity of petrol.

NBS ON IFLATION

The National of Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday said the average price of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), also known as diesel, rose by 168.26 per cent from N311.98 in February 2022 to N828.82 in February 2023.

Its document entitled: “Automotive Gas Oil Price Watch (February 2023),” said the “average retail price of Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) paid by consumers increased by 168.26per cent yearly from a lower cost of N311.98 per litre recorded in the corresponding month of last year to a higher cost of N836.91 per litre in February 2023.”

NBS noted that on a month-on-month basis, an increase of 0.98per cent was recorded from N828.82 in the preceding month of January to an average of N836.91 in February 2023.

According to the Bureau, looking at the variations in the State prices, the top three States with the highest average price of the product in February 2023 include Bauchi (N904.33), Abuja (N885.00) and Adamawa (N873.33).

It further explained that the top three lowest prices were recorded in the following State namely, Bayelsa (N767.14), Katsina (N778.75) and Edo (N789.43).

Continuing, NBS revealed that the zonal representation of average price of Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) shows that North Central has the highest price of N850.65 while South-South zone has the lowest price N814.63 when compared with other zones.

In a similar document, NBS said the average price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) rose by 54.76per cent from N170.42 in January 2022 to N263.76 in February 2023.

Its data entitled: “Premium Motor Spirit Price Watch +February 2023),” said : “The average retail price paid by consumers for Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) for the month of February 2023 was N263.76, indicating a 54.76per cent increase when compared to the value recorded in January 2022 (N170.42).”

According to the data, likewise, comparing the average price value with the previous month (.i.e. January 2023), the average retail price increased by 2.58per cent from N257.12.

The NBS explained that on State profile analysis, Jigawa State had the highest average retail price for petrol at N329.17.

It added that Rivers and Ebonyi States were next, with N323.33 and N317.14, respectively.

On the other side, said NBS, Niger State, Plateau State and Abuja had the lowest average retail prices for Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol), at N198.50, N198.71 and N200.00, respectively.

The Bureau also noted that on the zonal profile, the South-East zone had the highest average retail price of N306.86, while the North-Central zone had the lowest price of N215.01.