By Victor Ahiuma-Young

NIGERIA Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, yesterday, pleaded with the Federal Government to employ dialogue in resolving the lingering impasse between the management of Capital Oil and the Department of State Service, DSS, over alleged illegal sale of petroleum products stored in Capital Oil tank farm by the Nigerian National Petroleum and Cooperation, NNPC.

DSS OPERATIVES

NUPENG in a statement by its President, Igwe Achese, yesterday, lamented that over 2000 jobs had been on the line since the crisis started, declaring that “workers have the right to protest the non-payment of their salaries and allowances and that the Federal Government should secure the jobs of those working in the sector.”

According to the statement: “NUPENG however stresses that it does not support the illegal diversion and sale of petroleum products stored in the tank farm of capital oil by NNPC but that it is of the opinion that the Federal Government cannot sit down and watch workers lose their jobs, as in the case of Capital Oil, where over 2,000 workers are presently idle. The global practice is for government to secure and create jobs. NUPENG recalls the case of Seawolf Oil Services that was taken over by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, where the workers have still not been paid their backlog of salaries and entitlements for over five years now.

“NUPENG believes that the job creation mantra of the government should be allowed to play, rather than paving way for job losses as it is the case of Capital Oil closure now. We call on the government to allow the workers to resume work at the depot and load products so that their salaries can be paid instead of throwing them into unemployment market for no fault of theirs.

We urge the government to use the method of social dialogue to resolve the Capital Oil impasse, so that the 2,000 workers in the organization and their families do not suffer untold hardship.”