The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NUPENG

  • NARTO, tanker drivers praise Baru

    NARTO, tanker drivers praise Baru

    The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, and the Petroleum Tankers Drivers branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, have commended the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, for ensuring seamless supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country.

    Speaking during a visit to the GMD by the associations, the NARTO President, Alhaji Kassim Ibrahim Bataiya, and Chairman of PTD, Chief Otumba Oladiti, were unanimous in their views that fuel supply and distribution matrix had improved under Dr. Baru’s watch.

    According to Alhaji Bataiya, never in the history of the NNPC did the country record such an achievement which has brought about uninterrupted supply of petroleum products nationwide due to the various strategic measures undertaken by the GMD.

    NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu disclosed this in statement yesterday.

    The statement quoted Bataiya as saying that “Petroleum products scarcity has now disappeared from our filling stations. In fact, the retail price of the product has also come down from N145 per litre to N143 per litre. You have also extended considerable assistance to transporters by allocating Automotive Gas Oil, (AGO), at subsidized prices to enable them keep their trucks on the road.”

    The NARTO President also thank Dr. Baru for the settlement of their freight bills of about N80 billion owed by the Petroleum Equalization Fund, PEF, Management Board.

    PTD Chairman, Chief Otumba Oladiti, while re-echoing the zero fuel queue strides of the GMD, noted that the sanity brought to bear on the fuel supply and distribution by Dr. Baru should be extended to the refineries said to be scheduled for rehabilitation.

    While urging the GMD and the NNPC Management to remain focused on their mandate to the country, Chief Oladiti assured Dr. Baru of the tanker drivers’ due support.

    Responding, Dr. Baru thanked the members and leadership of the associations for their kind words, noting that his team would do all it could to remain focus

  • FG to remove dangerous speed bumps on highways

    FG to remove dangerous speed bumps on highways

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation ( SGF ) says the Federal Government( FG ) is working with relevant agencies to remove dangerous speed bumps on the nation’s highways to reduce accidents.

    Mr Babagana Alkali, Director Planning Research and Statistic in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Fedartion ( OSGF ), said this at the Pre-end of the year operation meeting with transport unions organised by Federal Road Safety Corps ( FRSC ) on Thursday in Abuja.

    Alkali said that the Federal Government ( FG ) was working with relevant agencies to remove the speed bumps that were dangerous on the highways in compliance with the recent National Assembly resolution.

    “ Of recent, you have heard the National Assembly resolution that the speed bumps that are dangerous on the roads should be removed because they cause nuisance and road traffic accidents and crashes along the way

    “The federal government is urging that the ones that are not important should be removed and those that are important should be left behind.

    “We will work with the relevant agencies to comply with that, but the work has not started yet, but we are hoping that the agencies are going to comply soon,’’ he said.

    Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, the Corps Marshal of FRSC, thanked the stakeholders for their continuous cooperation with the corps, over the years, which helped them to record positive results.

    “ I appreciate the support of Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers ( NUPENG ) for the increase in number of drivers who have driver’s licence.

    “ I also appreciate the number of personal attendance of the Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers ( NURTW ) at the FRSC fora.

    Mr Kassim Baltaya, Chairman NARTO, commended FRSC for what it had been doing to save the lives of people and their investments.

    “NARTO will continue to partner with the FRSC because reduction of accidents makes our investment secure.

    “FRSC has done wonderfully well but our drivers need more sensitisation and continuous training with the collaboration of other relevant agencies.

    “FRSC in collaboration with Standard Organisation of Nigeria ( SON ) needs to be checking the quality of tyres because some people are importing sub-standard tyre into the country, which endangers our lives.

    “I urge the RTEAN and NURTW to do more in this area and we can partner with both State and Local Governments to achieve it.

    Mr Zabairu Tijani, representative of NUPENG, thanked the corps marshal for uniting all the stakeholders in the transport sector to work together, saying this had helped in reducing accidents and quarrels among them.

    Tijani said that NUPENG had just trained 4,500 drivers to show commitment and support to what the FRSC was doing.

    “Our challenge is bad road, government should always award the road contract to competent contractors to make journeys smooth for both drivers and passengers.

    “We need specific parking spaces for our trailers, if government should allocate parking spaces for us, we will not pack anyhow along the road.

    Stakeholders who attended the meeting were; NUPENG, NURTW, RTEAN, NARTO, SGF,  Department of  State Services (DSS), and representative of the National Security Adviser (NSA) to show their continuous support to FRSC.

    NAN

  • Economy to lose N150bn daily to PENGASSAN, NUPENG strike – LCCI

    Economy to lose N150bn daily to PENGASSAN, NUPENG strike – LCCI

    The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry ( LCCI ), has warned that the economy would lose an estimated N150 billion daily, if the proposed strike by PENGASSAN and NUPENG is not averted.

    The Director-General of LCCI, Mr Muda Yusuf, disclosed this in an interview on Monday in Lagos.

    Yusuf said that it would not be a good development for an economy that was just emerging from recession.

    The two unions had threatened to embark on an indefinite strike over delay in the payment of N800 billion subsidy arrears to oil marketers.

    Yusuf urged the Federal Government to engage the unions and propose a credible payment plan to settle the arrears.

    He noted that the consequences of the proposed strike would be severe because of the strategic and critical nature of the oil and gas sector.

    “It would paralyse the chain of logistics in the economy as economic activities are driven largely by road transportation, both for commuting and freight.

    “It will impact on revenue as the upstream sector would be affected as well. It would impact the power sector which is largely powered by gas,“he said.

    The LCCI boss noted that the fuel subsidy phenomenon had become a recurring distraction in the management of the country’s economy.

    “It is regrettable that government has over the years got itself entangled in a problem which should not have arisen in the first place,“he said.

    He alleged that the country’s economy had suffered serial scandals and monumental corruption in the oil and gas sector because of the phenomenon of petrol subsidy.

    “We have consistently argued that the government should completely decouple itself from the business of importation, refining, transportation and retailing of petroleum products.

    “This arrangement has created considerable distortions and stagnated private investment in the downstream sector because these are enterprises that the private sector is best suited to manage,“he said.

    Yusuf said that government has no business fixing prices and subsidising the players.

    He said that in spite of  the monumental problem  the economy had from the subsidy regime, government has not taken urgent steps to put an end to price fixing for PMS.

    “The economy cannot sustain this arrangement. The current debt of N800 billion is 151 per cent of the total capital allocation for the Federal Ministry of Works, Power, and Housing in the 2017 budget.

    “It is 1,568 per cent of the capital allocation to health; it is 305 per cent of the capital allocation to Federal Ministry of Transportation; and 1,600 per cent of the capital allocation to education.

    “This raises vital questions about the optimality and efficiency of resource allocation and utilisation by government,” he said.

    He called for speedy passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill ( PIB ), adding that it will help to normalise the oil and gas sector.

    Yusuf urged the government to replicate the telecoms sector model in the oil and gas industry, adding that it would free resources for investment in critical infrastructures like power, roads, the railway, health and education sector.

    He stressed that the model would improve product availability, eliminate fuel queues, and create more jobs for the teeming youth in the downstream oil sector.

    NAN

  • Kachikwu’s letter: NUPENG raises the alarm, pleads for caution

    Kachikwu’s letter: NUPENG raises the alarm, pleads for caution

    The Petroleum Tanker Drivers’ branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas, (NUPENG) is alleging   politics in the protest by Minister of State for Petroleum Ibe Kachikwu, over the running, of the affairs of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) by its managing director, Dr. Maikanti Baru.

    Kachikwu, in an August 30, 2017 letter to President Muhammadu Buhari had accused Baru of excluding him and the Board of the NNPC in the management of the corporation.

    He said contracts were awarded in clear violation of due process.

    The minister doubles as the board chairman.

    The tanker drivers, however, dismissed the minister’s allegation, saying it was diversionary and deeply political.

    National chairman of the union, Salmon Oladiti warned, in a statement, against what he called unnecessary politicisation and promotion of certain entrenched interests in the upstream and downstream sectors, to the detriment of the nation.

    He declared that individuals not comfortable with certain monumental achievements of the NNPC GMD have been working to create confusion in the industry to ensure that Baru was sacked.

    Oladiti specifically mentioned the ongoing resuscitation of the NNPC depots across the country by Baru, which he noted were dismissed as obsolete by previous management of the industry before Baru assumed office.

    He said: “Our stand is that we are in support of what he has been doing, especially in the downstream sector. Before Baru there were moves to privatise all the depots into private hands. Petroleum marketers and other stakeholders, we were being told that the depots were decrepit   and could no longer function.

    “Nigerians can all see that he has started bringing them to life again. As we speak, Kano is loading and he will soon re-commission Ilorin depot.”

  • FG to meet NUPENG on strike

    FG to meet NUPENG on strike

    The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said on Monday the Federal Government would meet with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Work, (NUPENG) on Tuesday to prevent the proposed strike by the union.

    Ngige disclosed this in a statement issued by the Deputy Director, Press, in the ministry, Mr. Samuel Olowookere, in Abuja.

    The minister said the crucial conciliatory meeting with with the president and the executive members of NUPENG would take place in his office at 11:30 a.m.

    NUPENG is currently an affiliate under the United Labour Congress (ULC).

    Other unions under the ULC are – the Petroleum Tankers Drivers (PTD), National Electricity Employees Union (NUEE), National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE), telecommunication unions and aviation unions.

    ULC wants the Ministry of Labour and Employment to set up a task force to carry out factory inspections and review the privatisation of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), among other demands.

     

  • NUPENG to oil marketers: don’t sack workers

    The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has warned oil marketers against the mass retrenchment of workers, if the Federal Government fails to pay the outstanding subsidy owed it on petroleum products imoport.

    The union said the threat to sack the workers should not be used as a bait or weapon to get the government to pay, but apply other sanctions that will compel them.

    It stressed that the threat to embark on the mass sack is uncalled for, unjustified and unethical as the workers have always performed their duties well.

    The union warned that workers cannot be used as scapegoats or guinea pigs for the government’s ineptitude and non-challant attitude to pay for products imported on their behalf.

    The union, therefore, called on the Federal Government to verify the N720 billion owed the oil marketers and pay them to avert fuel scarcity and suffering of the masses.

    It reiterated that the oil marketers borrowed money to import these products and as a result, they should fulfill their obligations to them.

    It said that the government must develop the political will to do the turn-around-maintenance of the nation’s refineries to make them work optimally so that the drain on our foreign exchange will be reduced due to massive importation of petroleum products.

    The union warned that any attempt to sack workers in the oil marketing firms will be resisted and will lead to an industrial crisis in the industry.

    It advised the government and the oil companies to sort out themselves and not to use the workers as cannon fodder.

  • NUPENG condemns move to whittle down  NAPIMS’s powers

    NUPENG condemns move to whittle down  NAPIMS’s powers

    The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has condemned the move to whittle down the regulatory powers of the Nigerian Petroleum Investment Management Services Limited (NAPIMS) in the new petroleum policy approved by the Federal Executive Council.

    In a statement signed by its General Secretary, Comrade Joseph Ogbebor, the union noted that it would resist the move to strip NAPIMS of its responsibility of regulatory costing of projects and use of an independent consultant.

    “We kick against it because of the past failures of government restructuring and privatisation processes of PHCN and others,” the union said.

    NUPENG stated that it is a way of robbing Peter to pay Paul by pushing the costing of projects to an independent regulator, which would emerge from the restructuring of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

    The union said the move was self-serving, selfish, unjustifiable, not workable, uncalled for and meant to serve the interest of the promoter; and will do the oil and gas industry no good.

    The union, therefore, called for its stoppage or it may be forced to embark on an industrial action to reverse the trend.  NUPENG believes that the process will not be transparent and can be teleguided.

    It said NAPIMS, established to manage the Federal Government’s investments and interests in the upstream sector of the oil industry, had done well in its regulatory functions, with all the 10 divisions working; and it should therefore not be used as a blackmail to score cheap political points.

    The union, therefore, called on the Federal Government to forget about  the plan and not gazette it as it is meant to satisfy certain selfish interests and not for the sector to move forward.

    “NUPENG will not fold its hands and see any form of restructuring in NAPIMS that will lead to job losses, as it must be resisted,” it stated.

  • NUPENG to President: don’t be distracted

    NUPENG to President: don’t be distracted

    National Chairman of Petroleum Tanker Drivers’ Branch of  the National Union of  Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG)  Otunba Salmon Oladiti has advised President Muhammadu Buhari not to be distracted.

    He urged Buhari to remain focused to his administration’s commitment to put the economy

    in good shape and turn the fortunes of Nigerians around.

    The NUPENG chief gave the advice  in a statement he issued in Abuja.

    Buhari returned to  the country at the weekend after over 100 days in the United Kingdom (UK).

    Oladiti, who expressed concern  over negative comments on the state of health of the President  while he was out of the country,  said he was excited that certain individuals, who were playing god that Buhari’s health had worsen and he would not return to his seat have been put to shame.

    He said:  “Now that President Buhari is back in the country, we are waiting for those who promised to commit suicide to do so.”

    The NUPENG  leader said it was clear to discerning Nigerians that corruption was fighting back when certain opposition elements and groups were staging protests.

    “Those who stole the nation blind under the past administration were not happy with the new lease of lives, the transparency and openness in governance.

    “They are used to cornering  our collective patrimony, stealing the nation blind while majority live in misery. They haven’t come to terms with the reality of a new dawn, which ordinary Nigerians now relish. They are still gnashing their teeth, ’’ he said.

    On the positive development in the oil industry, the NUPENG chairman said both the upstream and downstream sectors of the industry have witnessed tremendous growth under the present administration ‘’unlike in the previous government when the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was at the mercy of  a super Minister”.

    Oladiti added: “It was a time when the country was making so much from crude oil earnings, yet NNPC was technically bankrupt. ’’

    He lauded the uninterrupted fuel supply situation in the country, which he noted was a departure from the recent past when car owners stayed endlessly  at gas stations to queue for fuel, while commuters  remained stranded  at parks.

  • NUPENG: no alternative to Buhari now

    NUPENG: no alternative to Buhari now

    The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) said yesterday the jubilation that followed the arrival of President Muhammadu Buhari was an indication that the country had no alternation to him now.

    Its Chairman, Southwest Chapter, Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that Nigerians were in happy mood with the President’s arrival.

    “We believe in our President and I can tell you, categorically, that there is no alternative to Buhari in moving the country forward,” he said.

    According to the union’s chairman, the people came out immensely to welcome him, because they believed in him to turn around the ailing economy.

    “It is with happiness that Nigerians came to welcome their president, after 104 days in United Kingdom’s hospital.

    “The gesture showed by Nigerians is a sign that they believe in him and they have been praying for him to recover from the illness.”

  • NUPENG hails move to employ 10,000 Niger Delta youths

    NUPENG hails move to employ 10,000 Niger Delta youths

    The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) yesterday hailed Federal Government’s move to employ 10,000 youths from oil-bearing communities to guard pipelines in Niger Delta.

    Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, chairman, Southwest chapter of the union, speaking with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said engaging youths to carry out pipelines surveillance would reduce militancy and kidnapping.

    The Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh, on Monday told reporters in Abuja that the government planned to engage 10,000 youths from the nine oil-producing states to protect pipelines against vandalism.

    The government’s proposal was part of the outcome of the August 3 meeting between the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and leaders of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF).

    Korodo said: “This is a good development if the government will fulfil the proposed employment, especially now that there are agitations in the country.

    “Niger Delta youths are familiar with the terrain. I can tell you that if the government is sincere about the move, our pipelines will be protected.

    “It will keep the militants away from militancy and kidnapping.

    “The youth will have hope that at the end of the month they will receive salary from the government.”

    The unionist urged youths to seize the employment opportunity offered by the government with sincerity.