Following the strike action by the duo oil workers’ union the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), acute fuel shortage has hit the nation’s capital city, Abuja and major cities across the country.
Driving through suburb towns on Thursday morning, lots of workers were seen stranded and scouting for available vehicles they can board to work. Also major petrol filling stations within and outside Abuja metropolis are greeted with long queues.
The nationwide scarcity of petrol worsened on Wednesday as oil workers embarked on a full-scale industrial action, which led to the shutdown of the corporate headquarters of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in Abuja as well product depots, mega filling stations and other critical facilities.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, had on Tuesday evening announced that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the restructuring of the NNPC into seven new divisions, comprising 20 subsidiaries.
But the oil workers said they were aggrieved because they were not carried along in the entire process.
