PENGASSAN Threatens Strike Again...fuel crisis looms

I hope government won't allow that. Nigeria may be plunged into another round of fuel scarcity as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), has threatened to resume its suspended strike if the federal government refuses to enforce the implementation of an agreement reached among the tripartite partners in the industry.


A letter addressed to Minister of Labour and Productivity dated August 22, and signed by the acting General Secretary, PENGASSAN, Comrade Lumumba Ighotemu Okugbawa, stated that, 

Since the agreement was signed over a month ago, there was not much progress or commitment towards implementing the tenets of the agreement.

Copies of the letter were sent to the Director General of the State Security Services (SSS), the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) and the General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS).

The union urged the minister to intervene by calling on the defaulting managements who have refused to implement the agreement, to order so as to avert another round of nationwide strike.

According to PENGASSAN, the agreement was reached at the end of the conciliation meetings held at the instance of the Minister of Labour and Employment with PENGASSAN, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and other stakeholders on July 12, 14 and 21, 2016 in Abuja.

The letter read in part, “It is over a month now since the last communiqué was reached and we can say in summation that no much progress has been achieved. This of course is making our members restive and we are under tremendous pressure to bring about a total resolution on all the contending issues.

“We are constrained therefore to note with great dismay that most of the companies are foot-dragging and have resorted to time-wasting tactics in order to deliberately frustrate the process.”