No nationwide strike over bad roads for now, says NUPENG

The Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas
Workers (NUPENG) said on Friday that there were no
plans for a nationwide strike over the poor state of
roads across the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Abia
and Rivers Branches of the union are currently on
strike over the poor state of the roads, which they
said were hampering their operations.
The President of NUPENG, Mr Igwe Atuche, told the
NAN in a telephone chat in Abuja that the national
body had not considered declaring a nationwide
strike over the issue.
“For now there is no intention for the national union
to join the protest embarked upon by the NUPENG
Eastern Zone Branch.
“We are still consulting,” he said.
NUPENG in the Eastern Zone last Friday went on
strike over the poor condition of some link roads in
the zone.
NUPENG members were protesting the failure of the
Federal Government to repair parts of the East-West
Road, especially in Eleme, where the Port Harcourt
Refinery is located.
The Umuahia-Okigwe and and Jebba-Ilorin roads are
also some of the link roads in very bad conditions
that NUPENG is also asking the government to fix.
The Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) Branch of
NUPENG had on Thursday threatened to go on
nationwide strike if its demand for the repair of the
roads was not met.
The Chairman of PTD, Mr Salimon Olatidi, had issued
a 90-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to fix
the bad roads across Nigeria or the union would
withdraw the services of its members. (NAN)