Lagos – The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has provided an update on the current status of action on the 21 critical roads earmarked for reconstruction under its Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme.
The update led to Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, under the aegis of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, agreeing to shelve their planned nationwide strike.
The drivers had threatened to embark on the strike over the non-rehabilitation of the 21 critical roads captured in the N621 billion NNPC Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme.
During a stakeholders’ meeting over the strike threat, the NNPC assured the PTD, NUPENG and NARTO that funding earmarked for the roads will 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.
The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA.
The stakeholders, during the meeting, requested for completion of the ongoing discussion on the review of the freight rates to cover operational costs and highlighted the precarious situation that truck owners face in the light of current economic realities.
NMDPRA informed the meeting that a committee has been constituted to review the rates and that the committee includes PTD, NARTO and NUPENG in addition to other stakeholders.
All parties agreed to work expeditiously towards concluding the review of the freight rate and make recommendations to the Federal Government.
The NMDPRA is to advise on a definite close-out date during the week of February 21, 2022.
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