FG Set To Address Marketers’ Fears

The Federal Government has in Abuja said that it was making
intense efforts at preventing the looming industrial crises following threats
by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) last Monday
to commence a nationwide strike by Thursday, if the government fails to meet
its demands to pay outstanding debts owed petroleum marketers over fuel
imports.   .

According to the Senior Special Assistant to the President
on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, government was employing a multi-faceted and
multi-dimensional approach to resolve the disagreements with the marketers as a
means of meeting NUPENG’s demands.

Government wants to avert a possible nationwide strike,
following the ugly situation already being experienced by residents of the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT), where there is fuel scarcity arising from
disagreement over subsidy payments.

Dr Okupe was, however, confident that the Presidency would
resolve the issue during the week.

It was also revealed that in the same vein, the Coordinating
Minister of the Economy and Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo–Iweala, had
shifted her base temporarily to Lagos, in spite of the Sallah holidays and had
been intensively engaged with the aggrieved marketers, union members and other
stakeholders in the downstream sector.

“All indications are to the effect that favourable
resolutions are reached and all matters likely to be resolved within this week,
as all these efforts are being made to ensure that the crisis that has caused a
lot of hardships to commuters and motorists is not unduly prolonged and does
not also extend beyond the city of Abuja, in the case of the fuel scarcity,”
Okupe noted.

The Federal Government has, however, urged Nigerians to be
calm and hopeful that the situation would return to normal shortly.

It would be recalled that the oil workers under the umbrella
of NUPENG, on Monday, gave government a three-day ultimatum to pay all
outstanding subsidy arrears to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) and owners of private depots or face an industrial showdown.

NUPENG, which accused the Federal Government of illegal
diversion of crude oil meant for the nation’s refineries for sale at the open
market, said if its demand was not met within the ultimatum, it would embark on
a nationwide strike.

The workers stressed that the only option available to stop
fuel importation in Nigeria was the immediate Turn-Around Maintenance of the
nation’s refineries, particularly Port Harcourt refinery.

The oil workers said government should also ensure that
roads and refineries were rehabilitated as agreed and signed in the MoU, else
the union would embark on a nationwide strike by Thursday, at the expiration of
the ultimatum today.