Fuel scarcity looms as NUPENG issues 3-week ultimatum to FG

Nigeria could be hit by fuel scarcity in the second week of January 2020, if the federal government and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) do not reach a resolution in the latter’s demand.

The Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), an arm of NUPENG, is giving the federal government up to January 15, 2020 to clear Lagos roads of heavy duty trucks often laden with containers or its members would shut down activities.

Daily Sun reports that the threat was made by the national chairman of the PTD, Salmom Akanni Oladiti, in Benin, capital of Edo state, during a press conference.

According to the report, Oladiti said the body was no longer comfortable with the gridlocks on Lagos roads, especially at Coconut and Tin Can Island areas.

He lamented that members of the association have been facing excruciating pains as they end up sometimes spending weeks just to get their tankers loaded.

He argued that the traffic challenge in Apapa had overwhelmed the task force established by the federal government to tackle the issue.

“The founding fathers meant well by constructing over 5,000 kilometers of pipelines.

“If successive governments had paid attention to roads and vandalism, the facilities would not have degenerated to the current level,” he lamented while commending President Muhammadu Buhari for ensuring there was no fuel crisis during the Yuletide.

This came after Mele Kyari, the group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Friday, December 13, signed the condensate refinery strategy programme front end engineering design.

SOURCE: Legit