Blackout, fuel crisis loom as workers shut down NNPC over unbundling

Nigeria is on the verge of another fuel crisis and a nationwide blackout  of unimaginable proportion as workers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Wednesday, shut down the activities of the corporation nationwide over the ‎unbundling exercise.

The workers, under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), said they were not consulted before decisions of the unbundling exercise were taken‎, hence, it is unacceptable to them.

FILE:  —The crowd and long queues of jerry cans. 

Some of the workers who spoke on the condition of anonymity, chided the Federal Government, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu and the mana‎gement of the NNPC for taking such decision which concerns and affect the future of the workers  without due consultations.

In Abuja, the workers were seen standing around th‎e headquarters of the NNPC, holding discussions in small groups.

One of the leaders of the NNPC Abuja chapter of P‎ENGASSAN, who also chose not to be named, ‎said workers of the Nigerian Gas Company, NGC, are actively participating in the strike and was about shutting down gas supply to power plants.

He warned that the NGC’s workers’ action would seriously hamper power supply across the country, especially as almost all the power plants in the country would be forced to shut down.

He also stated that the epileptic fuel supply situation in the country would be aggravated as all staff of NNPC and its subsidiaries at petroleum products depot nationwide would down tools.

“President Muhammed Buhari‎ seems not to be aware of the magnitude of our action, if he is, he would have called for an urgent resolution of our grievances,” the union officials said.