Following media reports that members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) are on the verge of embarking on a nationwide industrial action in solidarity with the currently-striking members of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) at the Nigeria Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCO), President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Abdulwahed Omar, warned the product marketers that they have absolutely no reasons to close down fuel stations since the issues breeding the strike are not of national interest.
In a statement released by the NLC on Thursday, Omar refuted the claim that NUPENG is on strike at all, saying the industrial action by NUPENG members in NIPCO was occasioned by disagreement within the leadership of the union and it is related solely to its internal democracy.
“While it is not true that NUPENG members at NIPCO are on strike, the issues in contention at NIPCO are basically about an attempt to fiddle with internal democracy within the leadership of IPMAN, resulting in the refusal of the outgoing president to accept to leave office after the expiration of his tenure,” Omar said.
“The second issue is the refusal by members of NUPENG at NIPCO to accept the continued payment of petroleum subsidy to members of IPMAN who do not supply any petroleum product anywhere in Nigeria.”
He maintained that the genuine concern by members of NUPENG against those who believe they can continue to short-change the Nigerian people by fraudulently receiving subsidies for the supply of petroleum products even when they supply nothing cannot be considered a strike and must not be used as reasons to advance personal interests by some so-called petroleum marketers who survive only by circumventing our laws, taking advantage of a system that has been a conduit for corruption.
“The marketers have absolutely no reasons to close down fuel stations, as there are no issues of national interests in the dispute”, he said.
“Indeed, there are no issues in dispute; if any, it is the determination of members of NUPENG to fight corruption, which has become extremely pervasive at NIPCO, whose facilities are used by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to store and distribute petroleum products across the country”.
He warned that no marketer hiding under personal interests should be allowed to further deepen the sufferings of consumers through the unwarranted closure of fuel stations anywhere in the country.
He pointed to the several hundreds of man-hours lost by the nation as a result of non availability or scarcity of petroleum products, especially petrol or Premium Motor Spirit as a reason why no one should induce any artificial scarcity.
“We urge the authorities, particularly the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, to take immediate measures to ensure the threat by the marketers to close down petrol stations is nipped.
“They cannot reduce the impact and essence of industrial strikes by claiming that their action is an industrial strike as strikes are not declared to promote personal interests and advance corrupt practices”.
Omar also urged the petroleum marketers not to make themselves an enemy of the nation by unleashing further hardships through their proposed action under the pretext of a strike.
