By Precious Oham
The Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, has slammed the Federal Government, FG, for the increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, to N617 per litre in Abuja and N568 in Lagos respectively.
In a statement by the National Secretary of the union, Shuaibu Usman Leman, on Monday in Abuja, said that the development has already inflicted untold hardship on Nigerians.
While expressing displeasure over the inability of the FG to put measures in place to cushion the effects, the union called for an immediate reversal to lessen the effects on ordinary Nigerians.
“This development has already triggered astronomical increases in transportation costs, with prices of food items soaring almost beyond the reach of many citizens, even as users of generators to power their homes are already groaning uncontrollably under the present situation.
“While we applaud the decision to remove the costly subsidies on fuel, however we had cautioned against a hasty implementation of the policy without putting mitigating measures in place to cushion the excruciating effects.
“We are saddened by the fact that today most people can hardly commute to work or other places of business without too much stress because the embarrassing sudden surge in petrol prices has made it so.
“We believe that this sudden decision is an over kill and we urge that the situation should be reversed immediately while adequate measures are considered and put in place to lessen the effects on ordinary Nigerians.”
