NUPENG: Oil workers’ strike cost Nigeria over N10bn

The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas on Tuesday said that over N10bn in revenue was lost during the five-day industrial action of the union.

Chairman, South-West Chapter of the union, Tokunbo Korodo, said this in Lagos in an interview with NAN.

The operation of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was shut down on September 15 due to non-payment of N85bn pension benefits.

The strike was suspended on September 19 after a meeting between the NNPC management and the two unions of oil workers.

Korodo said the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Petroleum Tanker Drivers, NUPENG and NNPC lost more than N2m daily in the southwest region during the strike.

He said business activities within NNPC depot in Ejigbo and Mosinmi were also paralysed, while food vendors and credit card sellers and other businesses also lost more than N5m within the period.

However, he said the strike was put on hold because of the intervention of the national assembly, which promised to resolve the matter.

According to him, the NNPC management has not fulfilled its own part of the pension scheme till now.

“The NNPC management has not paid their N85bn pension till now,” he said.

“We are imploring the national assembly to prevail on the NNPC management to pay their part of the scheme because oil workers have paid their part.”