PENGASSAN, NUPENG sing different tunes on strike

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Confusion seems to be the name of the game as representatives of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have been contradicting themselves on the proposed strike by workers in the sector.

Lumumba Okugbawa, acting general secretary of PENGASSAN had on Monday stated that all workers were to stop working by Thursday, alas, Tokunbo Korodo, south-west chairman of NUPENG said on Thursday morning that the strike had been put on hold pending a meeting with the Federal government.

According to Korodo, the meeting couldn’t hold on Thursday due to the public holiday and has  now been moved to Monday when they plan to hash things out.

It seems PENGASSAN doesn’t see it that way as Francis Johnson the national President says there’s no going back on the strike saying that they would not accept a hurried response to their plight.

Johnson claimed that all prior tries to dialogue with the government had been rebuffed.

“We see this as a deliberate attempt by the government to frustrate the discussion of the myriad of issues raised in the communiqué, which are critical to the survival of the oil and gas industry in the country,” he said.

“We have discussed this matter long enough for the government to address us but it closed its ears, now the authorities are calling for dialogue.”

A statement from PENGASSAN confirmed that they were still going on strike.

“There is no iota of truth in the report that the strike has been called off or suspended.

“As we are speaking now, some of our members that are in the offshore have been withdrawn, while others who are on critical equipment have commenced gradual shutting down of such equipment before their final disengagement,

“Our members, especially those in offices and downstream sector will join tomorrow (Friday) as they resume from the Eid el Fitri holiday.” the statement read.

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