NUPENG threatens to halt fuel supply to Lagos

The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) says it will stop supplying petroleum products to not only the Lagos state government but inhabitants of the city a debt of N224 million that the state government has failed to settle.

Tokunbo Korodo, the south-west chairman of the union, told NAN in Lagos that the debt arose from a contract given to the union by the LASG.

Korodo alleged that the N224 million was for payment for the supply of diesel and kerosene to LASG for direct labour projects in Ojodu, which were executed between October 2014 and May 2015.

The union chairman said the contract was financed by Skye Bank and the bank had been asking for repayment of the loan.

“All efforts to prevail on state government to pay this money through our letter dated December 2, 2015, which was acknowledged on December 4, proved abortive,” he said.

“Now, the union is left with no option than to stop supplying petroleum products to all parastatal agencies of Lagos State.

“From today on, if this is not effective, we may be forced to abandon Lagos as a whole to demand for this payment as Skye Bank is on our neck for this payment.”

Korodo said that the union had reached out to the governor, deputy governor, secretary to the stategovernment and the commissioner of transportation over the matter, but nothing was done.

The chairman said that all unions in the oil sector would participate in the action.

“If this payment is not made on time, every union under oil workers will participate because an injury to one person of the union is injury to all members,” he said.

Officials of the state ministry of transportation were not ready to speak on the issue when contacted by a NAN correspondent. They said they were not permitted to speak to journalists.