Petroleum Tankers Drivers (PTD) section of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), has insisted that there is no going back on their planned strike despite assurance from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that it has intervened to avert the strike action.
NUPENG’s national President, Igwe Achese, who released the communiqué in Lagos at the end of its Central Working Committee meeting held at the union’s secretariat in Yaba, said the strike would draw the attention of the Federal Government and other stakeholders to some unresolved issues bordering on the welfare of workers, such as bad roads, poor remuneration, insecurity and the alleged excesses of some security agencies.
Any strike action by the association may affect the free flow of petroleum products across the country, which would lead to increase in goods and services.However, there are indications that the strike action by the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) may be suspended today as critical stakeholders meet in Abuja to reach an agreement.
The South-West Chairman of NUPENG Lagos Council, Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, yesterday in Lagos, said that all the tanker drivers have abandoned their trucks in respect of the indefinite strike, which will begin today unless the Federal Government intervenes.
Korodo also said that more than 2,000 staff of Capital Oil and Gas Ltd., were on the line due to their closure by the Federal Government due to some issues between the company and NNPC.
He said that the union wanted the government to resolve the matter so that the company would be opened and the staff and tanker drivers would resume duty.
The chairman, however, said that the strike would not affect activities in filling stations, depots or refineries across the nation.
