The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has rejected the recent policy of 500 per cent increase in tariff on locally produced alcohol, spirits and tobacco, saying the policy would be counter-productive and lead to job loss.
In a letter to the Minister of Finance, President of the Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said the implementation of the policy is capable of resulting to massive job loss as well as relocation of affected industries.
Wabba said: “While NLC commend and support the laudable efforts of government in increasing revenue and diversifying the economy in order to meet its obligations to the people, which is already yielding positive results, we however observe that the Federal Government’s recent policy of 500 per cent increase in tariff on locally produced alcohol, spirits and tobacco will be counter-productive.
“This policy will eventually lead to job losses and possible re-location of affected companies to neighboring African countries as was the case with Dunlop and Michelin.”
Wabba said this astronomical increase in tariff would “lead to huge price disparity between locally produced alcohol, tobacco and spirit and the ones produced outside Nigeria or imported.
“It will also increase the cost of production and reduce profit margin. It will also lead to the closure and possible relocation of those industries to neighbouring countries within the West African sub region,” he added.