NPA Asks Maritime Workers To Suspend Planned Strike

The Nigerian Ports Authority’s managing director, Mohammed Bello-Koko, has pleaded with the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria to call off its impending strike.

In a statement released on Monday, Bello-Koko revealed that the NPA had been successful in mediating a settlement between the union and oil and gas operators on their noncompliance with stevedoring requirements.

The MWUN had threatened to shut down the nation’s seaports, jetties, and oil and gas platforms on Tuesday (today) over what it described as the continued refusal of International Oil Companies and Stevedoring Contractors to comply with the Stevedoring Extant Laws, “lack of access to work locations, lack of remittance of 3 percent MWUN levy by Stevedores.”

Naija News reports that the union also berated the NPA for enabling the IOCs to operate without oversight.

“We will do all it takes to ensure industrial harmony and prevent the shutdown of crucial production platforms of the oil and gas, and allied industries that maritime workers control. The national economy cannot afford any shutdown at this time,” he said.

Bello-Koko stated that a communiqué addressing the workers’ issues and the subsequent suspension of the planned strike action were signed at the conclusion of the meeting, which was held at the agency’s headquarters in Marina, Lagos State.