FG meets unions to avert fuel scarcity

chika ebuzor

July 7, 2016 1:52 PM

Industry watchers say the move is to avert a planned strike action by members of PENGASSAN.

File Photo: Protesting oil workers.

The Federal Government is currently in a meeting with executives of the

According to Punch, the Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations in the ministry of labour and employment, Samuel Olowookere said the government’s delegation will include the minister of labour and employment, Dr. Chris Ngige and the minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.

PENGASSAN’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ojugbana, said the Federal Government has done nothing to address the issues which the union raised.

He said “…The strike will hold. Actually, it is going to be a total shutdown and, of course, will cause fuel scarcity. Our members at the depots have all shut down and nothing will work once we start the strike in full; you will see. It is going to be another serious shutdown of activities across the country.

“There were series of meetings between us and the government, but these meetings did not yield the desired results. The meetings did not meet our expectations; they were not fruitful; they were not productive.”

Ojugbana also said “In fact, up till now, we have not seen any visible commitment on the part of the government to addressing the critical issues that were put on the table. The worst of all was that we were to have a meeting with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, on June 30, 2016 after two postponements.

“All of our members flew into Abuja for this meeting only for us to be told that the minister was not available. So, we felt they are not taking the issue as seriously as we had discussed in our previous meetings. Therefore, we have no option but to embark on the strike; perhaps they will see reasons with us.”

On Wednesday, July 6, 2016, PENGASSAN threatened to bring all activities in the oil and gas sector to a halt, today, July 7, 2016.

See Pulse Photo-News gallery below.

chika ebuzor