The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas, NUPENG, says their members cumulatively lost more than N10 billion during the recent five-day strike by workers of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
Mr Tokunbo Korodo, the South-West Chapter Chairman of the union, made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.
Members of the NUPENG and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), had on Sept. 15 embarked on an indefinite strike following the inability of NNPC to bridge the N85 billion gaps in their pension scheme.
The union’s strike, which was called off on Sept. 19, on the intervention of the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, had led to the shutdown of NNPC and its subsidiaries nationwide.
Korodo said that Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Petroleum Tanker Drivers, NUPENG and NNPC were losing more than N2 million daily in South-West during the strike.
According to him, NNPC Ejigbo depot, Lagos State and Mosinmi, Ogun State, were paralysed during the strike.
He added that the strike affected most small scale operators at the depots, especially food and GSM recharge card vendors among other businesses that lost about N5 million within the strike period.
The chairman also said that contrary to other opinions, the strike was only suspended following the intervention of major national stakeholders.
He said that unions decision to put the strike on hold allow the NNPC management time to address the issues raised, especially the unfunded N85 billion pension gaps.
“The NNPC management has not paid their N85 billion pension till now.
“We are imploring the National Assembly and other stakeholders to prevail on the NNPC management to pay their part of the scheme because oil workers have paid their part,” he said.
– NAN
