The Federal Government on Thursday, 17th February 2022 disclosed that it has reached a deal with Unions in the petroleum industry to shelve a planned strike over failure to implement the N621 billion road rehabilitation projects.
The FG made the disclosure on Thursday night following a meeting with the various stakeholders NNPC Limited, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), and National Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), where they agreed to work together to bring an end to the ongoing fuel scarcity rocking some parts of the country.
In a joint statement after the meeting, the FG also disclosed that it has agreed to review the freight rate for the haulage of petroleum products across the country.
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The statement reads,”Following the engagement between NMDPRA, NNPC, PTD, NARTO, and NUPENG, the parties resolved as follows:
“Road Rehabilitation – 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.
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“To allay the fears of the stakeholders, NNPC and all parties commit to working together in the monitoring of the road projects.
“Review of freight rate for transporters – 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.
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“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 21 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 added.
