From Chuks Moses, Awka
Striking Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) Union has been directed to shelve whatever their grievances are and return to duty in the interest of the citizens, the economy, and to avoid overheating the polity, especially at this critical period of election.
In a telephone interview the national president of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria(IPMAN), Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, expressed surprise, saying his office was not aware of the development, but pointed out that marketers (IPMAN)is not a trade union body, but an association, hence doesn’t embark on strikes.
He viewed “the reported locking up of fuel stations in some states of the federation including Anambra and Enugu states as capable of sending the wrong signal across to Nigerians and the world.
According to him, this could be viewed as flagrant disobedience of lawful judgement of the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land. Also it is an act of economic sabotage and an attempt to sabotage the fast approaching general elections, he added.
Elder Okoronkwo therefore appealed to the PTD to quickly get back to duty and the marketers to reopen their sales outlets so as to ease off any hardship their action might have brought on the citizens within the affected states.
He warned that IPMAN would not hesitate in sanctioning the erring members without further delay if they continue to sabotage the efforts of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government’s efforts to smoothen the petroleum products service channels in the interest of Nigerians, particularly at this critical moment; to avoid derailing the electoral process.
Efforts, at press time, to get the reaction of leaders of the PTD, the Anambra and or Enugu state executives of IPMAN have not yielded results. Those contacted neither picked nor returned calls made to their lines.