By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced that there will be no increment in the price of petrol in the month of May.
This is just as many filling stations in the nation’s capital, the Federal Capital Territory, have been closed in the last 48 hours, leading to long queues in the ones that are open for business.
The development has been linked to a strike action which was embarked upon by the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) Association over compensation for its members.
Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari, however, assured on Monday, April 19, in Abuja, that all issues would be resolved soon.
He gave the assurance while speaking to newsmen after holding a closed-door meeting with the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD).
PTD had proceeded on strike after its seven-day ultimatum to to NARTO to act on increasing compensation for its members elapsed.
However, following the parley with the NNPC boss, who urged the union to expedite action to ensure that fuel queues do not resurface across the country, the PTD has reportedly agreed to shelve the strike and resume operations.
Kyari explained, “On the ongoing strike by Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) associated with the ability of their employers, NARTO, to increase their compensation, leading to the industrial action, this we were not able to resolve last week.
“But we have given a commitment to both NARTO and PTD that we will resolve the underlining issues within a week and come back to the table so that we’ll have a total closure around the dispute – both in terms of government’s responsibility and then the responsibility of NARTO (owners of the trucks) to the Petroleum Tanker Drivers,” he said.