The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has threatened to embark on nationwide strike tomorrow if the federal government fails to pay subsidy arrears to fuel importers.
President of the union, Comrade Achese Igwe, disclosed this yesterday during a press briefing at NUPENG office, Jibowu, Lagos.
He said: “If the government fails to address the payment of subsidy, the union will embark on nationwide strike on Wednesday (tomorrow) because the jobs of our workers are on the line.
“It is against this back-drop that we call on the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to pay all outstanding subsidy payments to the NNPC and private depot owners, who are being asked by the same government to import fuel.”
The union president stressed that failure of the minister to meet the NNPC and marketers payment obligation would be seen as a deliberate ploy to inflict hardship on Nigerians.
He said: “We also stated emphatically that if the government is sincere in its subsidy payment without having any selfish interest, why are they not fully implementing the findings of the ad hoc-committee on subsidy set up by the House?”
Achese also refuted Okonjo-Iweala’s statement that the union is being used by oil marketers to embark on the strike action, insisting that there was absolutely nothing of such.
“The union considers the statement as an insult to the integrity of NUPENG and the struggle for the enthronement of democracy.
“The minister should bury her head in shame and resign in order for genuine patriots to come on board to move the nation forward,” he added.
According to him, NUPENG cannot be used by the federal government, institutions or companies as it is a major stakeholder in the petroleum industry.
He also said that, “The struggle for the emancipation of Nigerians from the hands of military cannot be rubbished or swept under the carpet by some ministers like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and her cohorts in the same boat who have failed to take the country out of economic woods.”
Igwe further claimed that the union was involved in the ongoing strike in Abuja to demand for payments of subsidy, saying that its traditional role is to protect workers who are Nigerians and members of NUPENG.
He also decried the untold hardship and unfair labour practices meted out to the union workers by two giant multi-nationals, the Shell Petroleum Development Company and Chevron Nigeria Limited.
Meanwhile, Achese told newsmen that one of their members was recently kidnapped in Lagos but paid a ransom before his release. He therefore called on Governor Babatunde Fashola to put more security in place to combat kidnapping in the state.
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