Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has acknowledged that the federal government’s involvement in the dispute between Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Dangote refinery is beginning to produce positive results.
Gatekeepers News reports that NUPENG had, on September 5, announced that its members would withdraw their services and begin seeking alternative employment from Monday.
PETROAN also declared its intention to halt the lifting and sale of petroleum products across the country for three days starting September 9, in solidarity with the oil workers’ union.
On September 7, the federal government appealed to NUPENG to shelve its planned nationwide strike and convened a reconciliation meeting for Monday.
Appearing on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, PETROAN’s national president, Billy Gillis-Harry, confirmed that talks have been taking place among all parties involved in the dispute.
He said, “We have called the government to intervene, and that has yielded a lot of positive results. As of yesterday, there has been a lot of consultation going on among the stakeholders and also the regulators.”
“We believe that there will be a solution, and the solution is simple- everybody should be at the table. Let all of us do what we must do cooperatively to ensure that Nigerians are served more efficiently. That’s the whole story.”
“It’s much better for efficiency that all retail outlets must belong to a union. If not, then you go to a station and buy one litre for maybe N2,000, and then you get to other places and buy for N800, and there will be no sanctions because there is no union for internal control.”
The president further explained that the grievances of oil workers were centered on the violation of their rights, which led NUPENG to declare a warning strike.
He said, “It is not that they have gone on strike. But they are giving a warning that the situation can become very tasking and troublesome for Nigerians. So let us all get it solved, and I think it is the right idea.”
“For PEROAN, don’t forget that the most critical aspect of our operations is our retail outlets staff, and the people who are handling these are in the union. So once the NUPENG strike takes effect, our stations will effectively be locked up.”
