The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have suspended their planned strike.
The suspension of the industrial action followed the intervention of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited as all parties involved pledged collaboration to ensure nationwide distribution 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.
According to the communique, 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.
Concerning Freight rats review, the stakeholders requested for completion of the ongoing discussion on the review of the freight rates to cover operational costs.
The stakeholders highlighted the precarious situation that truck owners faced in the light of current economic realities.
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.
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.
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