Tanker drivers suspend nationwide strike as FG increases payment to marketers

Tanker drivers have suspended the strike they embarked upon on Monday following the decision of the federal government to increase payment to marketers.

Maikanti Baru, GMD of NNPC, announced the approval of bridging allowance from N6.20 to N7.20 at the end of a meeting with representatives of the unions.

Bridging allowance is the money paid to marketers for the transportation of petroleum products from depots to filling stations.

But for the suspension of the strike, Nigerians might have experienced another round of fuel scarcity under the current administration.

Earlier, loading activities at both private depots and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) depots in Lagos were paralysed.

Tokunbo Korodo, south-west Chairman of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas employees (NUPENG), had said the outcome of the meeting between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the union would determine whether the strike will go on or not.

At the end of the meeting which held at the headquarters of NNPC in Abuja, Igwe Achese, president of NUPENG, announced that the strike had been called off.

Baru expressed delight that the unions cooperated with the government.

“We understand the difficulty of NARTO to go into negotiations with PTD which has to do with the level of bridging allowance,” he said.

“I am happy to announce that the honourable minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has given his approval to increase the bridging allowance from N6.20 to N7.20.”

Baru said the review should give NARTO the breathing space to engage with Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) to immediately discuss and resolve as many of the issues as possible, adding that the gesture, was expected to normalise relations between the unions.

The GMD explained that NNPC intervened in the face-off between the unions in order to ensure the energy security of the nation, adding that ordinarily the dispute was only between PTD and its employer, NARTO.

Salimon Oladiti, national president of PTD, applauded the GMD and his management for their timely intervention and urged them to address the unruly behavior of security agencies towards the members.

Joseph Akinlaja, chairman of house of representatives committee on downstream, who represented Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the house, commended NNPC on its intervention, saying “this has save the country a lot”.