IPMAN Directs Members To Ignore NLC, TUC Planned Strike

Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), on Saturday, directed all its members across the country to ignore the planned industrial strike scheduled to begin on Monday.

Yakubu Suleiman, IPMAN’s National Public Relations Officer, said in a statement that the decision was taken by the organisation’s National Executive Council after an emergency meeting in Abuja.

It would be recalled that the Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) had directed all their members nationwide to shutdown from Sept. 28 following the recent hike in electricity tariff and petroleum pump price.

“IPMAN has appealed to labour leaders in the country to jettison their planned industrial action over the hike in electricity tarriffs and increased pump prices of petroleum products.

“Rising from an emergency meeting in Abuja Saturday, the leadership of the independent oil marketers drew the attention of the labour leaders to the fact that the earlier they realise that the deregulation of the oil sector is inevitable, the better for the polity.

“Members of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, across the country have therefore been directed to ignore the directive by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, that all workers should embark on a nationwide strike next Monday,” Suleiman said.

According to him, deregulation is the surest way to bring back our economy to its normal position to the benefit of all the citizens in the country.

“There is no country of the world that will want to sustain its economy without deregulating the critical sector of the economy.

“We are seizing this opportunity to implore all well-meaning Nigerians to cooperate with the government by bearing the initial pains of ensuring that our economy grows so that we can all reap the benefits in future,” he said.