L-R: Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; General Manager, Operations, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Mr. Victor Shidok; and Group Managing Director (GMD), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Joseph Dawah, during the public hearing and signing of agreement with relevant stakeholders in the oil sector to end the fuel shortage or have their licences revoked, in Abuja
Energy crisis hits banks, opening hours shortened
Lagosians protest fuel shortage, perpetual blackout
Ejiofor Alike, Obinna Chime in Lagos, Omololu Ogunmade, James Emejo in Abuja and John Shiklam in Kaduna
Nigerians will experience relief as Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) monday resumed loading of petrol to various parts of the country, exactly after one week after suspending activities in protest over unpaid subsidy claims.
The Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) section of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG), which also withdrew tankers from the roads on May 18 in solidarity with the marketers have also resumed trucking of products to fuel stations nationwide.
It is expected that the independent marketers and other depot owners would follow suit.
The decision to resume loading by oil marketers followed a meeting convened monday by the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream and Downstream) to resolve the fuel crisis, which had crippled economic activities nationwide and forced several banks yesterday to reduce their opening hours to the general public.
Although THISDAY could not reach the Chairman of MOMAN, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, one of the marketers confirmed that Oando, Conoil, Forte Oil, MRS, Total and Mobil Oil agreed to commence loading at their various depots.
“The strike was suspended because negotiations, which started in the morning, yielded fruit. We are making progress in the talks with government. So PTD has passed instruction to the drivers to resume loading,” he said.
The Western Zonal Chairman of NUPENG, Mr. Tokunbo Korodo did not pick his mobile phone when contacted, but investigations revealed that lifting of products by the drivers actually commenced around 3 pm at some of the depots.
Before the marketers shelved their action, Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited had defied the strike and commenced the distribution of 13 million litres of petrol on Sunday.
Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah had appealed to the marketers to suspend the action and negotiate with government.
Ubah said he could not understand why the marketers embarked on the action since the Pipeline Products and Marketing Company (PPMC) has enough stock for distribution to Nigerians.
“I don’t understand why we should not be loading the products. I don’t think that at this point, our company should be part of any sabotage against the incoming government. That is why we are here to address the drivers and commence loading immediately.
“I don’t believe that we should hold government to ransom. I strongly believe that dialogue should prevail; while we continue to give services to Nigerians, we should continue to negotiate. But to cage government is what I don’t think is very correct,” he explained.
Following the commencement of loading by Capital Oil, there was a very long queue of vehicles at the company’s filling station on the Lagos - Ibadan Expressway monday.
THISDAY gathered that vehicles started queuing as early as 2am in the morning, stretching as far back as the tollgate, resulting in a massive traffic gridlock on the expressway.
However, men of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) were on hand to control the traffic.
The strike was called off after the Senate yesterday brokered a truce between the federal government and the oil marketers, after which the latter resolved to resume the lifting of petroleum products six hours after a break. Continue on this day!
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