Facts have emerged on why the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) workers and the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) last Thursday suspended their plans to embark on a strike action which would have grounded economic activities nationwide.
A fortnight ago, both groups threatened to down tools and cripple economic activities over the alleged diversion of the N621billion road fund provided by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and the failure of federal government to increase freight rate for transporting petrol.
In a surprising move, the NNPC had called a meeting of the NUPENG-PTD and NARTO last Thursday and secured their agreement to suspend the strike, but not before major agreements were reached on a number of issues.
The meeting between the downstream oil sector regulator, that is, NNPC, the NUPENG-PTD and officials of NARTO ended with a communiqué capturing far reaching following resolutions.
According the group managing director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, who presided over the meeting, the apex oil company provided updates on the current status of the road construction and rehabilitation projects under the road infrastructure tax credit scheme.
The NNPC assured the oil sector logistics labour unions that the funding earmarked for the 21 critical roads would be applied for the intended purpose only. This was one of the reasons the unions were heading to the strike.
“To allay the fears of the stakeholders, NNPC and all parties committed to working together in the monitoring of the road projects,” the communiqué issued after the meeting read.
The unions had requested for completion of the ongoing discussion on the review of the freight rates to cover operational costs and highlighted the precarious situation that truck owners face in the light of current economic realities.
The NNPC informed the unions that a committee had been constituted to review the rates which include PTD, NARTO and NUPENG in addition to other stakeholders.
The NNPC boss said all parties agreed to work expeditiously towards concluding the review of the freight rate and make recommendations to the government.
By Chidi Ekpewerechi
Be the first to know when we publish an update
