NUPENG Calls Off Strike Just Before It Would Start

Nigeria just averted another fuel scarcity crisis. The Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) division of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) had initiated a nationwide industrial strike last week (scheduled to begin today) to draw the attention of the government and other stakeholders to some unresolved issues, including the welfare of workers, poor remuneration, insecurity, poor state of roads in the country and the alleged excesses of some security agencies.

But after a meeting in Abuja late yesterday, the President of NUPENG Igwe Achese announced that the strike had been called off. The meeting involved a wide group of stakeholders, including members of NUPENG, PTD, National Association of Transport Owners (NARTO) and the management of the NNPC, led by its Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru.

• To ease some of the problems, Baru announced that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, had just approved an increase in the bridging cost allowance from N6.20 to N7.20.
• He said that the review of the bridging cost should give NARTO enough freedom to engage in discussions with the tanker drivers to resolve as many of the issues as possible.
• He further explained that NNPC intervened in the conflict between the unions in order to ensure the energy security of Nigeria, as this was a dispute between the PTD and its employer, NARTO.
• The National President, NARTO, Kassim Bataiya, assured Baru that with NNPC’s intervention, the condition of service document would be reviewed to improve the drivers’ welfare.
• Salimon Oladiti, the National President, PTD, lauded the management of the NNPC for its timely intervention and urged it to address the unruly behaviour of security agencies towards the members.