Minister of Petroleum, Mrs Dizeani Allison Madueke
By Ejiofor Alike
Nigerians may witness another round of fuel crisis as the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG) Tuesday directed its Petrol Tanker Drivers’ section (PTD) to suspend the loading of petrol in all the tank farms across the country.
The union has also vowed to seal all the offices of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in the country today until their demands are met.
But Shell’s spokesman, Mr. Precious Okolobo, told THISDAY that: “SPDC does not have any grievance with NUPENG members in its employment,” and declined further comments.
Another top official of the company, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated that the company decided to maintain the status quo, because the branch chairman went to court to challenge his expulsion.
“Following legal advice, Shell opted to maintain the status quo pending the resolution of the matter before the court,” he said.
The action of NUPENG is in protest against the alleged refusal of the management of SPDC to withdraw its support from the suspended chairman of the Shell branch of the union, who is of the Port Harcourt Zone.
NUPENG had at an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting expelled the Shell branch chairman, Mr. Fidelis Okandeji, over what the union called his alleged connivance with the management of the company in the sale of some oil blocks and other anti-union activities.
The association alleged that the management of SPDC had refused to recognise the expulsion and had been aiding the branch chairman to engage in fraudulent deduction of money from the salaries of the workers without obtaining the union’s consent.
The Shell management was also accused of intimidating the branch vice-chairman and preventing him from taking over as the chairman, following the expulsion of the chairman.
NUPENG had also set up a caretaker committee to run its affairs at the company, but the management allegedly frustrated the committee and refused to allow it to perform its functions.
The Western Zonal Chairman of NUPENG, Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, who confirmed the plan to picket the company, also stated that no petrol was lifted from all the tank farms across the country Tuesday.
“When we set up a panel to investigate him over allegation of anti-union activities, he shunned the panel and also used the management to prevent other members of the executive from appearing. We later suspended him, but the vice-chairman was intimidated from taking over.
We dissolved the branch union but the Shell management prevented the caretaker committee from running the branch. If Shell is bigger than the Federal Government, it is not bigger than NUPENG,” Korodo said.
He said the company assisted the suspended chairman to take the union to court.
“It is the Shell management that is giving him the legal backing to fight us. What is Shell benefitting from this romance with him? Shell assisted him to take us to court. We are going to picket all their operations. As I am picketing in Lagos, Warri is picketing and Port Harcourt is also picketing,” he said.
However, the Shell official debunked the claims by NUPENG that the management intimidated officials of the union.
“How did they define intimidation? Do they have the proof? Did they see any threat letter to anybody? Did they tell you the time between his expulsion and his going to court? The truth was that the matter was already in court and there was nothing Shell could do,” he added.
Fuel marketers, who commented on the crisis, said it could lead to fuel scarcity if the drivers sustained their action beyond today.
Executive Secretary of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) has appealed to the drivers to suspend their action since Shell is not involved in the downstream sector.