Fuel strike: PENGASSAN members comply with directive|Fuel queues appear in Abuja

Members of the  Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), on Friday, complied with the directives of the trade union leadership to embark on industrial action.

According to a statement by the National Public Relations Officer of PENGASSAN, Comrade Emmanuel Ojugbana, government offices and agencies were shut down as staff stayed away from their offices.

The statement disclosed that “In Abuja, few members that reported for duty early this morning were turned back from the NNPC Towers, except for NUPENG members and management staff who went about their normal duties.

“There was total compliance in government agencies, as staff stayed away from their offices. In Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NNRA), Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) and the Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEFMB) headquarters, virtually all offices were locked.”

The strike was also successful in Port Harcourt as monitoring team that went around the city reported that members of the union in NNPC office, the Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC), Shell and Total fully complied with the strike order.

The statement, however, noted that the management of depots in Port Harcourt at first used industrial trainees and contract staff to load/off load fuel trucks. They were called to order and finally stopped loading.

According to a source, “There was no lifting of petroleum products in Warri or anywhere in the zone as our members fully complied with the strike directive.

“Members of the association in Lagos also stayed away from their offices and there was no lifting of petroleum products at the depots and loading bays.

“Even those at the jetties and other critical sections where crude are lifted in Port Harcourt and Lagos also abandoned their duty posts.

“In Kaduna, there was total compliance with the strike directive as members stayed out of their offices.

Most offices in the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) were empty and there was no lifting of petroleum products from the depots.

“We commend the support of our NUPENG members here who supported PENGASSAN in ensuring that there was total compliance.”

The PENGASSAN spokesperson also said, “The inability of the government to fund the Joint Venture (JV) operations and settle cash call arrears has denied the country of new investments while the existing operations and activities are being stalled.

“This has resulted in lack of new job opportunities while our members who have been in employments are losing their jobs because their employers could not meet their salary obligations to them.

“The Union demands the immediate action of government to address this funding/cash call arrears to avoid the imminent collapse of the industry.

“The Government must provide feasible guidelines to clear all outstanding payments going forward and evolve a pragmatic system of funding the Joint Venture (JV) operations.”

The strike has caused a reduction in the loading activities at depots in Apapa, Lagos. Even as fuel queues are beginning to appear in some parts of Abuja.

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