The scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol looms in Nigeria, as oil workers have been ordered to down tools nationwide according to The Punch report.
This is coming as the nation is struggling to recover from the disruptions in supply caused by the #ENDSARS protests against police brutality and extortions.
Oil workers under the umbrella of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) were ordered by the association to vacate their duty posts.
According to The Punch, the order to down tools was contained in a November 8, 2020 letter signed by Lumumba Okugbawa, General Secretary, PENGASSAN, and copied to the Central Working Committee members of the association.
The strike was to kick against the failure of the government to make any concrete move as regards the differences between PENGASSAN and government on matters bordering on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
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PENGASSAN and NUPENG had on 18 August 2020 suspended the strike they embarked upon in protest against the non-payment of their salaries and the Federal Government’s inclusion of oil workers in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
At the time, The National Public Relations Officer, PENGASSAN, who doubles as the Rivers State Secretary of the Trade Union Congress, Fortune Obi, quoted by The Punch said that “Strike suspended as Federal Government agrees to pay the owed salaries while the IPPIS (Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System) is sorted out in the future.”
By: Ifunanya Ikueze