The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers has revealed that its National Executive Council is going to come out with NUPENG’s stand on the ongoing debate over the planned removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly called petrol, after its NEC meeting.
However, another major union in the sector – the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, strongly declined subsidy removal, stressing that the move should be put on hold because the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), did not provide the required factors for subsidy removal.
Both NUPENG and IPMAN were reacting to the position of their sister union -Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, as they spoke with our correspondent in separate telephone conversations.
Late last month, PENGASSAN cautioned the Federal Government to stop subsidising petrol, as well as ensure the speedy rehabilitation of Nigeria’s refineries.
PENGASSAN’s President, Festus Osifo, had made the call while conversing with journalists at the National Executive Council meeting of the association in Abuja.
And when asked whether PENGASSAN was in support of fuel subsidy removal in the absence of any functional domestic refinery, Osifo replied, “Yes!”
But when contacted for the position of NUPENG on the subject, its National President, Williams Akporeha, said the union’s NEC would also have to have a meeting, as he was also quick to state that the association aligned with the Nigeria Labour Congress on the subsidy debate.
Reacting to PENGASSAN’s stance on subsidy removal, Akporeha said, “ Osifo took that decision after his NEC meeting. So we will also hold our NEC meeting to come out with our own position.
“However, our position is still the same with that of the NLC. We don’t have a separate position from NLC. But again, my NEC will give further directives on that.”
Although NUPENG president did not state when his executive council would meet, he insisted that the union would not make any official position public until the meeting holds.
When told that some officials of the NLC recently opposed the removal of subsidy, whereas many groups had intensified calls for a halt in the regime, Akporeha replied, “I just said something earlier and I will repeat it.
“The position of the NLC has always been NUPENG’s position. We don’t have separate positions on this matter. But we will still hold our NEC meeting on this issue.”
