THE Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, expressed surprise at the worsening fuel scarcity across the country, despite assurances by the Federal Government to flood filling stations with products.
The union implored the federal government; Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to tell the nation what is actually happening, as the two unions in the sector are not on strike NUPENG in a statement yesterday, decried the attendant suffering and pains of Nigerians as a result of the persistent and unjustified fuel scarcity, lamenting the incessant fuel scarcity resulting to long queues, loss of man-hours and endless search for products. NUPENG in a statement by its President, Igwe Achese, said the scarcity had further worsened the sufferings of citizens through increase in transport fares, rising pricing of goods and services as we approach the Christmas festivities. “We call on the government to quickly address the situation instead of trading blames when the depots are dry. It is a national shame and embarrassment for the citizens to celebrate the Christmas under this kind of atmosphere when Nigeria is the seventh largest producer of crude oil. ‘’Once again, there is need for the federal government; Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC to tell the nation what is actually happening, as the two unions in the sector are not on strike. We call on the Federal government to direct the appropriate bodies to flood the nation with petroleum products as we enter the year 2018 as stop gap measure.’’ In the long run, the government must ensure that the nation’s four refineries are revamped to reduce the pressure on foreign exchange for importation of petroleum products from abroad.”
