The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, has suspended its nationwide strike which began on April 2.

The suspension followed the intervention of the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation( NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru.

In a statement by Mr Ndu Ughamadu, NNPC group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division on Monday in Abuja, Baru said his intervention was in the national interest.

Baru further approved the increase in bridging costs from N6.20 to N7.20.

Bridging is money paid tanker drivers per kilometer for trucking petroleum products from depots to final destinations.

‘Mediating between the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, and the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), Baru said ”we understand the difficulty of NARTO to go into negotiations which has to do with the level of bridging allowance.

”I am happy to announce that the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has given his approval to increase the bridging allowance from N6.20 to N7.20”, Baru said in the statement.

He said the review should give NARTO the breathing space to engage with PTD to immediately discuss and resolve as many of the issues as possible, adding that the gesture was expected to normalise relations between the unions.

Baru explained that NNPC intervened in the face-off between the unions to ensure the energy security of the nation, adding that ordinarily the dispute was only between PTD and its employer, NARTO.

Announcing the suspension of the strike, the NUPENG National President, Mr Igwe Achese, said with the intervention of Kachikwu and Baru, NNPC ”has done so much to ensure efficient supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country, hence, the strike is hereby suspended”.

Responding, the National President of PTD, Mr Salimon Oladiti, applauded the NNPC for the ”timely intervention and urged them to address the unruly behavior of security agencies towards the members”.

Also, the National President of NARTO, Alhaji Kassim Bataiya, assured Baru that ”with his intervention, the condition of service document would be reviewed to improve the drivers’ welfare”.

Joseph Akinlaja, Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Downstream, who represented Speaker Yakubu Dogara, commended Baru for his intervention, saying it had saved the country a lot.

The drivers downed tools due to unresolved issues concerning their welfare, poor remuneration, insecurity and bad roads. They also complained of harassment by some members of the security forces on the highways.

Source: Pulse

The leadership of the state oil firm, NNPC, has scheduled a meeting with striking tanker drivers whose strike is already affecting the distribution of petroleum products across Nigeria.

The Petroleum Tankers Drivers, PTD, section of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, commenced the strike on Monday.

The spokesperson of the NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu, told PREMIUM TIMES that the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru, has scheduled a meeting with leaders of the oil workers for Monday afternoon.

Mr. Ughamadu said representatives of the National Association of Transport Owners, NARTO, the employers of the drivers, would also be attending the meeting scheduled for the NNPC Towers in Abuja.

The tanker drivers had said at the end of their Central Working Committee, CWC, meeting in Lagos on Friday that their demands included a reminder to the federal government on some unresolved issues bordering on their welfare.

The NUPENG President, Igwe Achese, had said the welfare issues included the perennial problem of bad roads, poor salaries and other conditions of service, insecurity and alleged high-handedness of some security operatives against their members.

But, Mr. Ughamadu said the NNPC management was uncomfortable with some underlining issues about the strike, which appeared beyond what the tanker drivers have given as reasons for their latest action.

Although Mr. Ughamadu refused to expatiate on these underlining issues, another senior official of the national oil company said they may not be unconnected with an attempt by some union leaders to politicise the NNPC management’s recent decision to recover huge debts from some products marketers.

The official, who requested that his name should not be revealed, as he does not have the permission to speak, said it appeared some oil workers were sympathetic to the travails of the chairman of Capital Oil & Gas Limited, Ifeanyi Ubah.

The official said the oil workers, particularly in the south-west zone, were pushing for the current strike to arm-twist the NNPC to abandon its resolve to recover its debt from some oil marketers.

“It is clear that the tanker drivers’ union has been infiltrated by members sympathetic to Mr. Ubah, particularly in the South-West led by the Zonal Chairman of NUPENG, Tokunbo Korodo.

“But, we should guard against politicising the issue. We should try to divorce genuine issues affecting the welfare of members from those affecting NNPC’s legal effort to recover its debt,” the official said.

Recently, the NNPC petitioned the State Security Service, SSS, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, as well as the committee in charge of the downstream oil industry in the National Assembly to facilitate the recovery of the ‘missing’ 130 million litres of premium motor spirit, PMS, popularly called petrol.

The missing product, valued at about N11 billion, was owned by the NNPC Retail, a downstream subsidiary of the NNPC, but stored in the products depots belonging to Capital Oil & Gas and MRS Petroleum as part of the NNPC national strategic reserve.

The products stored in the companies’ private facilities under a throughput arrangement was used in controversial circumstances without proper authorisation from the NNPC.

In the past one week, Mr. Ubah has been reporting to the SSS headquarters in Abuja twice daily to hold discussions expected to culminate in an agreement on a debt repayment schedule.

So far, sources close to the security agency told PREMIUM TIMES, Mr. Ubah was unable to come up with an acceptable schedule on when he would repay the debt, blaming the NNPC for refusing to consider several written requests for full reconciliation of accounts for debts owed his company over the last two years.

Source: Premium Times