The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, on Friday said it had re-opened the Nigeria Petroleum Company, following SSS’s intervention in its leadership crisis.
NUPENG’s President, Mr Igwe Achese, announced this at a news conference in Abuja
Achese said the union had directed its members in the company to resume work immediately as government had assured that all areas of contention would be addressed.
“We have directed our members in NIPCO to resume work immediately.
“Relevant government agencies have intervened and we are keeping faith with what we discussed at the meeting.
“We have told them that the leadership crisis must be addressed, so we are assuring Nigerians that NUPENG will continue to remain selfless,” he said.
Achese expressed hope that the matter would be settled early next week, adding that the union would not give any notice to direct its members at NIPCO to withdraw their services again.
He explained that the union was a major stakeholder in the downstream sector as 60 to 70 per cent of the downstream sector was within NUPENG.
He also said it did not have any hand in the lingering scarcity of petroleum products in the country as none of its chapters was on a strike.
He said, “We want to assure Nigerians that fuel scarcity is not caused by NUPENG, and as a union, we are not on any strike as assumed by the National Assembly.”
Achese attributed the lingering fuel crises to the country’s dependence on importation of petroleum products.
Achese had said that NIPCO was shut due to corruption by leadership of the union and insensitivity to the plight of its members.
He had said that IPMAN President, Alhaji Aminu Abdukadir, had completed his tenure and now running extra term illegally.
“A competent law court has asked him to leave,” the NUPENG president said.
