NNPC WORKERS SUSPEND STRIKE

Workers of the Nigerioil-rig-265x160an National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and its subsidiaries, yesterday, called off their industrial action after a lengthy meeting with officials of the Federal Government and senior executives of the NNPC. The workers, under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), said the deliberations which had the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, and ended yesterday morning with positive outcomes. The workers also expressed their unalloyed support for the restructuring and change process in the NNPC. The NNPC social media account quoted the two unions as saying: “The Group Executive Committees (GEC) of NUPENG and PENGASSAN had a marathon meeting with the GMD/Minister of Petroleum (State) and NNPC top management for several hours, ending this morning at 4:30am on the on-going industrial action. “After exhaustive deliberations, a resolution was signed by the two parties. In view of that, the industrial action is hereby suspended. The GEC salutes your solidarity, understanding and cooperation.” The two unions commended stakeholders for the cooperation and support extended to them during the struggle. Also, the NNPC, in a statement by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, said the two in-house unions reviewed their stance after a decision was reached to set up a committee with representatives from the unions and NNPC management to look into the new NNPC structure, with a view to considering any suggested amendment where necessary. He added that consensus was reached on other outstanding issues bordering on pension matters, job security as well as staff performance and appraisal. At the end of the meeting, Alegbe disclosed that the leadership of the two unions expressed strong commitment towards eliminating the prevailing challenges experienced by members of the public in accessing petroleum products across the country. Normacly returns, fuel queues remain Meanwhile, normalcy appeared to have returned to the NNPC and its subsidiaries, especially in Abuja, as workers of the corporation resumed at their duty posts. However, despite the suspension of their industrial action, the fuel crisis, which resurfaced Wednesday, worsened, yesterday, with massive queues of vehicles witnessed at almost all the petrol stations in Abuja. Some marketers, who spoke to Vanguard decried low stocks at depots and inability to access forex at N197 to the dollar for importation. A marketer, who spoke to Vanguard on condition of anonymity, said: “For now, no marketer can access forex at N197 for importation. If you are to access money in this regime, you may need to gather such funds for over six months for you to make one importation.”

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