STRIKE: September salaries, fuel supplies under threat

Following the industrial action embarked upon by organised labour unions over the implementation of the new national minimum wage, indications have emerged that there may soon be shortage of petroleum products across the country as oil workers joined the strike.

The organised labour union comprises the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and United Labour Congress of Nigeria (ULC), while the oil workers include members of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Association (PENGASSAN).

TUC on Tuesday in a statement had insisted that the organised labour would commence the nationwide strike on Thursday, while NLC on Wednesday had directed all its members and affiliate unions to commence join the strike following a fruitless meeting it had with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, in Abuja on Wednesday.

NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said the decision to join the industrial action followed the refusal of the Federal Government to reconvene the meeting of the tripartite committee on the national minimum wage to enable it conclude its work.

NUPENG spokesperson, Adamson Momoh, while speaking on the strike action on Thursday said, “We are part of the United Labour Congress; so, any decision that they take, we will abide by it.”

In similar vein, the National Public Relations Officer, PENGASSAN, Fortune Obi, said the association had been directed to join the ongoing strike.

“PENGASSAN is an affiliate of the Trade Union Congress; so, the directive is that we should join the strike, and after the Central Working Committee meeting, the CWC has issued the same directive as the TUC to our members,” he said.

Read also: EFCC investigating Skye Bank directors —NDIC

The issue of fuel scarcity has been a perennial problem in the country with many critics describing it as an annual event. This is because, in recent time, the last three months of every year have records of fuel scarcity which saw the prices of transport fare across the nation surge significantly.

To solve the problem, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, had in May 2016 announced an upward review of the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol, by the Federal Government from N86.50 to N145.00, and directed filling stations across the country not to sell the product above the fixed price.

According to Kachikwu, the hike was the only way out of the scarcity and exorbitant prices of N150 to N250 Nigerians were subjected to at many filling stations across the country during yuletide.

In spite of this, the problem persisted, indicating the problem was yet to be resolved as Nigerians did not only pay outrageous prices for the product, but the fuel was not available to satisfy available demands in 2016 and 2017 festive sessions.

Should the oil unions go on strike again, there is high chances there would be a recurrent of the fuel scarcity soon as it was experienced in previous years.

NNPC appeals against panic buying

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has appealed to motorists and other consumers of petroleum products across the country not to engage in panic buying of products over the industrial action.

NNPC Group Managing Director, Maikanti Baru, who made the appeal, said the Federal Government was seriously engaging the NLC on the issues it raised, a release by NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu, stated yesterday in Abuja.

Ughamadu quoted the NNPC GMD as affirming that the Nation had 37-day petroleum PMS self-sufficiency, assuring that all the NNPC’s depots across the country, including the private ones engaged by the corporation on throughput basis, have an abundance of petroleum products to meet the needs of Nigerians.

Workers’ September salaries may delay

Meanwhile, the strike action may also delay the payment of salaries of civil servants across the country for the month of September.

This became apparent as the Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, said the workers of the Office who were directly involved in the release of funds for payment of salaries were denied access into their offices, making it difficult to complete the process of payment of salaries.

Idris said the development might make it difficult for the Federal Government to fulfil its promise of payment of salaries to workers before the end of the month.

He however appealed to the labour unions to shelve their strike in order to enable the office pay salaries to workers.

 

 

RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears

Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now