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Petroleum Tanker Drivers Call Off Tomorrow’s Strike
The National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers (NUPENG) announced on Sunday that the strike by its affiliate members, the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), had been called off.
The walkout, which was set to begin on Monday and would have disrupted fuel supply, was called off due to Federal Government intervention.
Mr Tayo Aboyeji, the South-West Zonal Chairman of NUPENG, said this in a Lagos interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
According to Aboyeji, the suspension aims to allow union and government representatives to discuss the thorny problems at hand.
“The leadership of the union after a brief meeting with representatives of government decided to suspend the strike in the interest of the nation.
“The meeting with the government continues during the week with the assurance that the union grievances will be positively addressed,” he said.
The National Union of Tanker Drivers (NUPENG) announced on Saturday that the tanker drivers would go on strike on Monday over the dismal status of the nation’s highways and other issues.
According to Aboyeji, the union has lost many lives and property as a result of poor road conditions.
“This is not the first time we would announce our intention to strike, but we must call it off because it will typically affect the majority of Nigerians, but our hands are now tied,” he stated.
However, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Sunday urged truckers to call off their planned strike immediately in order to avoid further harming the economy and Nigerians in general.
The NNPC’s spokesman, Mr Garba Deen, made the request in a statement issued in Abuja.
“While it is not the NNPC’s obligation to develop or renovate roads, the national oil firm believes that any disruption in the transport of petroleum products to various parts of Nigeria will have a negative impact on the NNPC’s operations.”
“It will also jeopardize the country’s current sense of energy security.”
“In acknowledgement of this, the NNPC wishes to inform petroleum tanker drivers that, in addition to current efforts by other government agencies, the NNPC has launched a process that would provide a swift and efficient solution to the road network concerns raised by the PTD,” he said.
“We urge PTD to call off the (scheduled) strike immediately and allow the government and its agencies an opportunity to fix the problems in the best interests of all.”
“We also strongly warn Nigerians not to indulge in panic purchase of petroleum products since the NNPC has enough supply to go through this festive season and beyond,” he added.
