The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) are set to join the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in a strike action which increases fears that another fuel scarcity is just in the horizon.
In a press statement signed by the National Public Relation Office , PENGASSAN, Comrade Emmanuel Ojogbane, they explained just who would be joining in the strike action and the aim of the strike.
“The action, which will cripple all activities and operations in the oil and gas sector, will affect all the sub sectors as our members in the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Petroleum Equalisation Fund (Monitoring Board) PEF (MB), Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), oil majors, labour and contract services companies, and petroleum products marketing companies will join in the action” the statement said.
According to the Nation, the Rivers State Chairman of the Trade Union Congress, TUC, and former National Industrial Relations Officer of PENGASSAN, Chika Onuegbu spoke of some of the challenges they had been facing saying, “PENGASSAN and its members have been facing challenges recently due to the mass sack of its members by various oil and gas companies and that companies have been facing serious challenges due to slump in oil prices, militant attacks.”
He also revealed that the Federal Government is owing the JV partners about 7 billion US Dollars which is an amount reached due to the indebtedness of the previous administration and the current one. With the last administration owing around 5 billion Dollars.
Also it was gathered that PENGASSAN had tried to engage the Federal government on dialogue a number of times all of which proved abortive and it has therefore left the body with no choice.