Fuel price hike: Oil workers shun strike

True to their promise, workers in the oil and gas industry, under the aegis of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, shunned the ongoing strike action called by organized labour to protest the hike in the price of petrol to between N135 and N145 per litre.

Specifically, at the head office of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in Abuja, things were going on as usual, same for‎ the office of Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA.

The Chairman of PENGASSAN, PP‎PRA Abuja Chapter, Mr. Victor Ononokpono, told Vanguard that PPPRA staff nationwide did not participate in the strike in line with the directive from their national body.

At the DPR, staffers were seen going about their normal duties; same situation was also recorded at the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

An official in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, who chose not to be named, stated that the withdrawal of the Trade Union Congress, TUC, from the strike action, had exempted workers of the Ministry from the strike.

‎Also, almost all petrol stations in Abuja were opened, with majority of them selling fuel to motorists. Some of the attendants told Vanguard that they are not part of the ongoing strike, as their national body had chosen to support the Federal Government’s decision.