The leadership of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, yesterday boycotted the meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige and the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, complaining that the invitation to the meeting from government was impromptu, Vanguard reports.
PENGASSAN also said the strike it embarked upon was still ongoing and that there was gradual shutdown of depots and refineries, adding that the three day Sallah break was responsible for the slow start of the strike. But the ministry of Labour and Employment has said that the scheduled meeting between government and the leadership of PENGASSAN and NUPENG was re-scheduled till today because of the Sallah break.
The Deputy Director, Press, in the ministry, Samuel Olowookere, told Vanguard on phone that “it has been postponed till Monday morning at 11a.m., and the same venue because of the Sallah and public holiday.”
According to reports, representatives of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, were in Abuja yesterday for the meeting only to be told that it had been rescheduled as the sister union, which declared the strike, PENGASSAN, stayed away.
Explaining why the meeting could not hold as scheduled, the National Public Relations Officer, PRO, of PENGASSAN, Comrade Emmanuel Ojugbana, told Vanguard on phone that there was no way the association could have attended the meeting because the invitation was quite impromptu.
He also said that PENGASSAN had not met to decide on the new date to meet government, adding that the Monday meeting the government had mentioned was not agreed by the relevant parties. He said: “They just sent invitation to us yesterday, (Wednesday), it is quite impromptu. Most of our people are scattered everywhere, we need to reach them with the information.”
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