Fear of Fuel Scarcity Allayed as NUPENG Puts Nationwide Strike on Hold

The nationwide strike of members of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) that was supposed to commence on Thursday has been put on hold. The announcement was made by the president of the union, Mr. Achese Igwe, late on Wednesday. He however, pointed out that the ongoing strike in Abuja would however continue.

This development is coming up following an intervention by the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) in the ongoing face-off between NUPENG and the Federal Government over the non-payment of subsidy claims to oil marketers.

A scenario from a typical fuel scarcity situation in the country (Credits: pmnewsnigeria.com)

According to the Chairman of the senate committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Senator Magnus Abe, the committee had met with NUPENG and the Ministry of Finance on the matter with a view to finding a way out of the problem. In his words, “I have just finished speaking with the NUPENG President and it is clear there is no need for any strike. What is happening is a misunderstanding and we are trying to reach out so that we can find a solution to the problem.” Simple.

With the backing of an apparently confused NLC, NUPENG workers had on Monday threatened to embark on a nationwide strike on Thursday (today) if the government refused to pay subsidy claims of marketers. It would be recalled that earlier on in the year, during the crisis surrounding the removal of fuels subsidy in the country, the NLC had clamoured for the probe of the subsidy scheme, and supported the move to ensure that all those who benefited illegally from it were brought to book.