The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have suspended their planned strike.
The suspension of the industrial action follows the intervention of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited as all parties involved have pledged collaboration on ensuring the nationwide availability of petroleum products.
This was made known in a communique issued after a critical stakeholders’ engagement between the NNPC Ltd., the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), PTD, NARTO, and NUPENG on Thursday, in Abuja.
The communique was jointly signed by Malam Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director, NNPC, Otunba Salmon Oladiti, National Chairman PTD, Mr Yusuf Otthman, NARTO President Comrade Williams Akporeha, NUPENG President and Abiodun Adeniji, Executive Director, Finance and Admin, NMDPRA.
Highlights of the resolutions reached by all parties
On road rehabilitation, the communique said NNPC provided updates on the current status of the road construction and rehabilitation projects under the road infrastructure tax credit scheme.
It said the NNPC assured the stakeholders that the funding earmarked for the 21 critical roads would be applied for the intended purpose only.
”To allay the fears of the stakeholders, NNPC and all parties commit to working together in the monitoring of the road projects,” it stated..
On review of freight rate for transporters, the communique noted that the stakeholders requested for completion of the ongoing discussion on the review of the freight rates to cover operational costs.
It noted that the stakeholders highlighted the precarious situation that truck owners faced in the light of current economic realities.
It further noted that the NMDPRA informed the meeting that a committee was constituted to review the rates which included PTD, NARTO and NUPENG in addition to other stakeholders.
It stated that all parties agreed to work expeditiously towards concluding the review of the freight rate and make recommendations to the Government. The Authority is to advise on definite close-out date during the week of February 21.
The parties also agreed to collaborate to ensure nationwide availability of petroleum products. All parties agreed to work closely to ensure the efficient distribution of petroleum products across the country.
In case you missed it
Recall that NUPENG and PTD had last week in the wake of fuel scarcity in some major cities across the country threatened to embark on a strike over the alleged diversion of a N621 billion road fund provided by the NNPC by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. The funds were meant for the rehabilitation of 21 critical highways across the country.
The group also complained about the failure of the federal government to increase freight rate for transporting petrol.
COMMUNIQUE ON CRITICAL STAKEHOLDERS’ ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN NARTO, PTD, NUPENG, NMDPRA AND NNPC LTD ON FEBRUARY 17, 2022 AT NNPC TOWERS
Following the engagement between NMDPRA, NNPC, PTD, NARTO, and NUPENG, the parties resolved as follows: pic.twitter.com/suNZeAH62n
— NNPC Limited (@nnpclimited) February 17, 2022
