Fuel Queues build up in Nigeria’s capital as oil workers strike

An  indefinite nationwide strike by oil workers is slowly taking its toll on Abuja residents as queues build up in fuel stations as some of them are shut to customers.

 News men that went round the affiliate unions and reports that many of them are in strict compliance with the directive from their National leaders to embark on a systematic withdrawal of their services.

PENGASSAN and NUPENG are in sync over the vexed issue of Joint Venture funding and cash call debts owed International Oil Companies by the government amounting to more than sixty billion dollars.

This, the unions say, has led to non payment of salaries to their members running into several months

Other issues in contention include the absence of clear cut direction on the Petroleum Industry Bill, lack of Turn Around Maintenance for refineries, the spate of redundancies and retrenchments in the oil and gas sector as well as the forceful co-option of government agencies into the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System.

Some of the Union leaders express satisfaction with the level of compliance and say the situation will remain so until government accedes to their request

Already, the strike has crippled activities at the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, the Petroleum Equalisation Fund, PEF, the Pipelines and Products Marketing
Company, PPMC, the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, NAPIMS, oil majors as well as labour and contract service companies.

If allowed to linger, the workers say they may be forced to shut the crude terminal which they note, could plunge the nation into a major crisis.

A meeting between the government and the labour leaders slated for Thursday has been shifted to next week Monday where all parties are expected to dialogue with a view to saving Nigerians another period of agony.