Lanre Popoola, the chairman of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in the South-West, said the recent fuel pump price increase had worsened the difficulty in manufacturers’ operations.

“The present hard situation in the country has been worsened by the fuel increment with no respite in sight,” the MAN chairman said in an interview in Ibadan on Friday.

Mr Popoola decried how difficult it has been to operate manufacturing firms on full scale under the current economic hardship.

He said manufacturers were already facing difficulties before the increase in the price of petrol.

Mr Popoola said it was unfortunate that the federal government expected the private sector to implement a N70,000 new national minimum wage amidst the fuel price increase and instability in the economy.

“Can we increase salaries now? No. We are in a dilemma,” he said.

According to him, the sector has been plagued with economic challenges, such as inflation and the devaluation of naira amidst forex scarcity.

“It has been difficult to operate manufacturing industries on a full scale.

“ Even before the fuel increment, and now that the worst has happened, it has been difficult to operate under the economic hardship,’’ he told journalists.

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited reviewed the price of PMS from N580 per litre to N855 and N1,200, depending on the location.

(NAN)