Nigerian oil workers unions under the aegis of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have called off a day-old strike after the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, following the unbundling of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Both PENGASSAN and NUPENG embarked on the strike on Wednesday, an action which had heightened fears that the current fuel scarcity being experienced across the country might persist.
Kachikwu announced on Tuesday that the NNPC had been restructured and broken down into five business-focused and two service-driven units, The Guardian reported.
He explained during a world press conference that the reorganization is aimed at fulfilling one of the key change agenda of the present government, noting that the reorganisation will introduce accountability, transparency and probity in the management of the corporation.
The unions claimed that the government’s action was a surprise to them, claiming that they were not informed before the government took the action.”
“The strike was called off around 5:00 am this morning at the end of an all-night meeting with union officials,” Ohi Alegbe, said NNPC’s spokesman.
“The minister clarified the government’s position on the ongoing reorganisation in NNPC. At the end of the day, the unions were satisfied,” he said.
