An official of the Federal Ministry of
Environment, who gave his name simply as
Nnamdi, said, “This strike came as a surprise. I
was lucky to make it to work this(Monday)
morning and you can see that the place is
virtually empty. Many workers are stranded
because many stations had no fuel to sell due to
the strike by oil and gas workers.”
Black market operators cashed in on the scarcity
by selling the product in jerrycans on the major
roads and streets in the FCT at prices above the
pump price of N97.
The situation was the same in Makurdi, Gboko,
Kastina – Ala, Oturkpo and Ukum Local
Government Areas of Benue State, where
motorists paid between N105 and N135 instead
of N97. On the streets, the product sold for as
much as N200 per litre.
Commercial drivers and private car owners told
our correspondent in the state that the scarcity
would cause untold hardship to the people,
especially as Christmas approaches.
Our correspondent in Kwara State observed that
over 90 per cent of the filling stations in llorin
which were selling fuel before 8am on Monday,
suddenly locked their entrance .
The managers of the filling stations declined
comments but surprised motorists described
their action as shocking.
One of the motorists, Kunle Ajana, said, “What
I am witnessing here now is surprising. Some of
my friends bought fuel in the morning and I am
surprised that I cannot find anywhere to buy
now.”
In Jos, Plateau State, there were also long
queues in the afternoon at most of the filling
stations which initially sold petrol in the
morning.
At the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation Mega station in the city, the queue
stretched to about two kilometres, thereby
causing traffic congestion along the major high-
ways in the city.
However, motorists in Oyo and Delta states did
not experience any difficulty as most stations
were seen dispensing fuel.
At the NNPC depot in Apata, Ibadan, normal
activities went on even as black market
operators still sold fuel at N90 per litre instead
of N97.
An attendant in one of the fuel stations in
Boluwaji area of Ibadan told The PUNCH that
there was no instruction from the owner of the
station to them to stop selling petroleum
products.
“The owner of this place is in Lagos. We called
him to take instruction concerning the scarcity
but he said that we should continue to sell fuel.
We took delivery of 33,000 litres on Saturday
so we have plenty of petrol in our tanks,” he
said.
Our correspondent in Delta State learnt that
junior workers under the umbrella of the
National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas
did not join in the strike.
The NNPC depot in Warri did not close down as
petroleum marketers loaded their trucks with
ease on Monday.
When one of our correspondents visited the
NNPC Ejigbo depot in Lagos on Monday
afternoon,loading activities were also going on.
The Lagos Zonal Chairman, PENGASSAN, Mr.
Abel Agarin, said, “The people you saw at
Ejigbo are NUPENG members who were
allowed to load. But immediately we got there,
workers from the PEF who were signing their
documents and the DPR workers were asked to
stop working.”
He said that some tankers that loaded earlier in
the day at the depot were allowed to move out
because of the danger they posed if left there.
Agarin added, “In Lagos, most depots were shut
and there was no loading. After Ejigbo depot,
we went to Mobil on Mobil Road. We also
visited Oando loading bay. At the Apapa depot
and those owned by Mobil and Oando, there
was total compliance. There was work by
NUPENG members at Total depot which was
later stopped in the course of the day.
“But by tomorrow (today), I believe that loading
activities would not take place there.
In the early hours of Monday, trucks were seen
loading products at Apapa depots in Lagos but
at a reduced pace. Our correspondent gathered
from oil marketers that the Petroleum Tanker
Drivers arm of NUPENG in the state were yet to
join the strike.
But a petrol tanker driver, who identified
himself as Shola, said that some depots were
having difficulties exiting their trucks from the
point of loading.
He also said that trucks ready to leave Lagos for
other states were being constrained by the
Petroleum Equalisation Fund processes.
PEF is a parastatal of the Federal Government
established by law to equalise the cost of
transporting petroleum products from product
depots to filling stations.
This is to ensure that petroleum products are
made available at uniform prices throughout
Nigeria.
To operate the price equalisation mechanism,
marketers whose petrol stations are located close
to depots contribute to the Equalisation Fund
while others with petrol stations farther away
from depots make claim from the Fund.
The President, PENGASSAN, Mr. Francis
Johnson, said the unions had issued a 15-day
ultimatum to the government before embarking
on the strike.
“Before we met on October 30 and 31, the two
unions had met in Enugu. We issued an
ultimatum, which expired on November 15.
After the expiration of the ultimatum, we also
engaged government agencies and the
international oil companies involved, but it was
not fruitful. We don’t like Nigerians to go
through what is going on now,” he added.
The Media and Information Officer,
PENGASSAN, Mr. Babatunde Oke, however
said that the Federal Government had invited the
two unions for a meeting in Abuja on Tuesday
(today).
He said that “in Warri, there was no loading,
but NUPENG members were seen wearing red
to signify their protest. In Port Harcourt, there
was total compliance in all oil and gas locations,
including the upstream and midstream as the
loading bays were shut.
“In Kaduna and Abuja, there was total
compliance on the part of PENGASSAN
members. In Kaduna, the gate of the Kaduna
Refinery was shut and no entrance was allowed .
There was no loading also in Kaduna.”
Oke added that “earlier on Monday morning, the
NNPC towers was opened for business and
workers were at their desks but they were later
called to stop work at about 11.45 a.m.”
Meanwhile, the NNPC has assured the public
that the strike would not dislocate the
distribution and sale of fuel to members of the
public.
The Group General Manager, Group Public
Affairs Division, NNPC, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, said
the NNPC was in talks with the leadership of the
unions which gave the assurance that they
would not disrupt the fuel supply and
distribution system as the strike was basically
aimed at addressing the anti-labour issues by
some of the international oil companies.
The corporation and its downstream subsidiary,
the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company,
also revealed that it had over 32 days stock of
petroleum products available for supply across
the nation during the Yuletide season and
beyond.
It said 17 additional petroleum laden vessels
were at the Lagos Port waiting to discharge to
the various depots for onward distribution to
members of the public.
It further assured that everything was being
done to ensure that there was no hitch
whatsoever in the supply system that could
bring any form of hardship to motorists and
those who intend to travel during the period.
The NNPC advised marketers to desist from
hoarding or diversion of petroleum products as
those caught would be sanctioned.
The Head, Public Affairs Department of the
Petroleum Resources, Ms. Dorothy Bassey, told
one of our correspondents on the telephone that
there were still meetings going on to resolve the
issues raised by the oil and gas workers.
She said at the management level, work would
continue to go on at the DPR until the situation
was brought under control.
The oil and gas workers are protesting the
failure of the Federal Government to carry out
turnaround maintenance of the nation’s four
refineries, the non-reduction of pump price of
petrol in line with the slump in global prices of
crude oil and the delayed passage of the
Petroleum Industry Bill.
They had vowed that the strike would
continue until the government addressed their
grievances, which also included the non-
implementation of the Nigeria Oil and Gas
Industry Content Development Act.
Source: PunchNg
No comments:
Post a Comment