There are palpable fears that Abuja residents and motorists may be subjected to another fuel scarcity as oil workers threatened to halt supply of petroleum products to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and neighbouring states.
Igwe Achese, NUPENG President who issued the two-week threat notice in Abuja, expressed displeasure over the breakdown of negotiation between the Union and management of Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) over N3 billion terminal benefits for disengaged staff of Seawolf Drilling company, River State.
Achese who accused AMCON of failing to accede to the demands of the Union at a reconciliation meeting noted that over 300 workers of the oil firm were disengaged unceremoniously in 2013, over the company’s indebtedness to a commercial bank to the tune of N25 billion, before AMCOM took over the assets and liabilities of Seawolf.
Worried by the development, Achese, who gave update on the outcome of the National Executive Council (NEC) held in Abuja, threatened that the Union issued the two weeks ultimatum for the purpose of intervention of Federal Government and Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.
“For the past four years we have been discussing the issue of redundancy and closure of Seawolf of which AMCOM which is a federal agency took over since 2013.
“It is very unfortunate to state clearly that workers and company that AMCON took over, AMCON has refused to pay them their terminal benefits since 2013 and therefore the union in a very strong resolution is requesting the Federal Government to prevail on AMCON to open windows for dialogue to pay these Seawolf workers whom they took over.
“Ofcourse you will agree with me that taking over a company such as the case of AMCON you are taking both liabilities and assets and as such we have written series of letters to the Ministry of Petroleum, Ministry of Labour, to the security agencies: the DSS and all agencies expected to be notified on this issue.
“We are aware that AMCON instead of paying these workers and negotiating the terminal benefits of these workers have decided to take the matter to court and we are faced with series of adjournment since 2013.
“We therefore have no choice as a union to write an open letter to Mr President and the Acting President to take all necessary steps to address the issues of Seawolf and that of Chevron.
“However we gave notice to Federal Government in our earlier letters that failure to address these issues the NEC-in-session have taken a decision that within two weeks of not addressing these issues, NUPENG will withdraw her services into Abuja and its environ.
“At this point we are also directing all our workers like the tanker drivers in the entire country to begin to wear red cloths and also carry leaves on their trucks in readiness for this struggle,” Achese said.
While responding to the campaign for restructuring in the ongoing fourth constitutional amendment, the NUPENG helmsman said the campaign for restructuring has become very germane.
Achese said the restructuring order must take the form of fiscal federalism such that component states or region may be at liberty to control their own resources.
“On our part as a union, we canvass for true federalism to be adopted in the country, each state or region should be allowed to control their resources through fiscal federalism.
“This approach, we believe will reduce the current agitations just the way the regions of old was controlled by local resources which made room for healthy competition and development,” Achese stressed.
KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja
