The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have suspended its planned strike.
The suspension which was announced in a Communique by the parties was after an intervention by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, Thursday, February 17, 2022 at the NNPC Towers in Abuja.
TheFact Nigeria reports that following the engagement between NMDPRA, NNPC, PTD, NARTO, and NUPENG, the parties resolved as follows:
“NNPC provided updates on the current status of the road construction and rehabilitation projects under the road infrastructure tax credit scheme and assured the stakeholders (NUPENG, NARTO and PTD) that the funding earmarked for the 21 critical roads will be applied for the intended purpose only.
“To allay the fears of the stakeholders, NNPC and all parties commit to working together in the monitoring of the road projects.
“The stakeholders requested for completion of the ongoing discussion on the review of the freight rates to cover operational costs and highlighted the precarious situation that truck owners face in the light of current economic realities.
“NMDPRA informed the meeting that a committee has been constituted to review the rates which includes PTD, NARTO and NUPENG in addition to other stakeholders.
“All parties agreed to work expeditiously towards concluding the review of the freight rate and make recommendations to the Government. The Authority to advise on definite close-out date during the week of 21st February 2022.
“Collaboration on ensuring Nationwide availability of petroleum products
“All parties agreed to work closely to ensure efficient distribution of petroleum products across the country”, the Communique read.
Recall, the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing recently enjoined Nigerians to keep faith with the government as it was working hard to ensure that all the 21 roads funded by the NNPC Tax Credit Scheme were completed within the stipulated time frame.
TheFact Nigeria gathered that there had been rumors of alleged hijack and diversion of funds from the NNPC Tax Credit Scheme hence the snail speed of construction projects across the country.
However, the Federal Government claimed that adequate fund had been released to the contractors through the governance process established to ensure prompt delivery of the road projects, adding that no contractor had any reason not to deliver as scheduled.
