Association of Road Transport Owners call off strike

The National Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, in Nigeria has called of the strike action embarked upon by its members to press down their demands over what they described as high operational cost in the industry.

The President of the Association, Yusuf Lawal Othman, announced the immediate resumption of loading of petroleum products by its members at the end of a meeting with the Federal Government in Abuja.

The national president broke the news in Abuja after a meeting with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) Senator Heineken Lokpobiri; the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA); representatives of the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and others.

Yusuf Lawal Othman said the Association, though could not get all it demanded from the Federal government, but had to make some concessions based on National interest.

“We will commence operations immediately,” he said.

The Minister of state for Petroleum resources, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri ,who led Federal Government’s delegation at the meeting, said that the Federal Government considered a lot of factors and shifted grounds to meet most of the Association’s demands.

This understating reached by the parties resulted in the immediate end to the strike.

“As a responsible government we believe in dialogue and we will ensure the demands are met as we agreed,” he said.

Lokpobiri, with the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Midstream, Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, jointly thanked the NARTO leadership and all the stakeholders for their cooperation and assured them of Government’s commitment in fulfilling the agreed terms.

NARTO had in a letter dated 15 February, addressed to the General Secretary of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) and signed by its National President, Othman Yusuf, directed its members to withdraw their trucks from petroleum product loading activities with effect from Monday, 19 February 2024.