By Ambrose Nnaji
The Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch (PTD) Branch of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration renewed commitment to ensure motorable federal highways across the country.
The Union, a communique, also commended efforts by the government to ensure stability in supply of petroleum products.
The Union, in its resolutions, also passed a vote of confidence in its national officers. The communique declared that it was satisfied with efforts by the national secretariat in collaboration with units and zonal officers to guarantee decent living wage for members.
It urged the national executive to sustain its initiative on training and re-training of the truck drivers.
The PTD NUPENG gave the commendation as part of its resolutions at the end of its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital at the weekend.
The communique signed by Comrades Augustine Egbon and Oluchi Chinagorom, National Chairman and National Secretary of the Union, respectively noted that the commendation was outcome of the recent approval of 13 roads projects across the country by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the end of its meeting presided over by President Tinubu.
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Among the federal roads was the rehabilitation of Enugu-Port Harcourt, the Ore-Ondo-Akure Road, 300km Benin-Akure-Ilesha, rehabilitation of Aba-Owerri, Mubi- Maiduguri road section, amongst others.
The PTD- NUPENG noted that the rehabilitation of the roads would go a long way to ensure safety of its members on the highways and ensure uninterrupted supply of petroleum products from the Depots to the retail outlets.
“We recall that our agitations and several interventions to ensure that the last administration put the federal highways in good shape only fell on deaf ears. The effects of the bad shape of the highways were accidents, leading to loss of lives of our members and their trucks, their only means of livelihood.
“We can’t but express our satisfaction that the present administration is already taking positive steps to meet some of our grievances. We implore the Federal Ministry of Works to ensure that the contractors move to sites, timely and give Nigerians the value for the public funds being spent by the federal government to put the roads in good shape,” they said.
The Union however appealed to the Federal Government to equally give consideration to the rehabilitation of the Calabar-Itu Federal Highway as it noted that the present deplorable condition of the road was a big hindrance to movement of petroleum tankers.
The NEC of the PTD- NUPENG equally commended the recent initiative to ensure stability in the supply of petroleum products.
He said: “Lifting of products at the Depots has increased substantially and it is a big relief for our members. The National Chairman Comrade Augustine Egbon appealed to the federal government to live up to its assurance to revive the nation’s four refineries to function optimally.”
The PTD- NUPENG expressed the concern over what it described as the high-handedness of a Task Force put in place by the office of the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, aimed at preventing movement of adulterated petroleum products.
“We wish to bring to the attention of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) that his men have been impounding petroleum tankers, almost indiscriminately even when the drivers provide incontrovertible evidence of the genuine source of such products and loading depots.
“A good example is the recent incidence on Funtua- Kaduna road. For almost two months now, the IGP Task Force has not released the tanker even when it has been discovered that the product being conveyed was not adulterated. We are appealing to the office of the IGP to ensure the release of the tanker,” the communique stated.
It said the PTD- NUPENG national officers under the leadership of Comrade Egbon were elected at a special delegate’s conference in July.
Also present at the quarterly meeting was the National President of NUPENG, Comrade Williams Akporeha, Rivers State Director of DSS represented by his Deputy Director, State commission of police represented by his Assistant Commissioner of police National President of IPMAN among other dignitaries from the oil and gas sector.
