Hope rises as oil workers, marketers mobilise to flood stations with fuel

Respite is on the way of Nigerians as oil workers have called off their strike and agreed to mobilise immediately.

Besides, all stakeholders in the oil sectors, including the major oil marketers agreed to take immediate actions to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians, may of whom have been trekking long distances as fuel scarcity has put most vehicles out of the road.

Those ones which are on the road are charging exorbitant rates in order to cover the high rate at which they bought fuel for their vehicles.

As at Monday afternoon fuel was selling for as high as N650 per litre in some parts of Lagos as virtually all stations had run out of fuel.

But after an exhaustive public hearing organised by the Joint Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream and Downstream), on Monday, stakeholders resolved to mobilise their members for the immediate distribution of fuel across the country.

In a communique read after the meeting Senator Magnus Abe explained that the Finance Minister / Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and other stakeholders who attended the meeting, unanimously agreed to the peace deal, in the interest of the nation.The communique was duly signed by the stakeholders after the session.

According to Abbé,  the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers and the Petroleum and Energy Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Agreed to call their stoke action following the intervention of the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Abbe said, “We have agreed on the following: first is that the Minister of Finance will give an undertaking to the Major Marketers and Depot Managers that the work of the committee being headed by CBN and PPPR, on the outstanding claims, would be concluded and be reflected in the hand over notes to the incoming administration.”

The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria on its part has agreed to begin lifting of Petroleum products nationwide within the next six hours.

MOMAN also agreed to also pay the National Association of Road Transport Owners, the transport cost that will be determined by them.

Abe added that the Depot Managers had agreed to open all their depots nationwide so that lifting would commence and had agreed with the DPR to withdraw the operational licence of any depot which was not opened for fuel lifting.

He said the NNPC had directed all relevant staff working in the various depots across the country to work 24 hours including Saturday and Sunday for the next two weeks until normalcy returns to the sector.

He also explained that the committee would reach out to the Lagos State Government on the agreement reached and the need for their contribution towards ensuring smooth lifting of fuel at all the depots.

Nigeria has almost ground to a halt as a of the never-before-seen type of fuel scarcity. Banks, radio stations, televion houses etc have cut down on their operational hours with most of them threatening to shutdown operations completely if by Tuesday no solution was found to the economic imbroglio.

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