CNG Benefits Going into Pockets of Truck Owners, says Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu says the benefits of compressed natural gas (CNG) are currently going into the pockets of truck owners, noting that the gains are not spreading as quickly as he would like.

Tinubu spoke on Thursday when the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) leadership, led by Salimon Oladiti, its president, paid a courtesy visit to him at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The president urged petroleum transport operators to ensure that the benefits of the federal government’s compressed natural gas (CNG) initiative were passed on to commuters.

“We will encourage you, but ask your drivers to let it trickle to the commuters too,” he said.

“Whatever benefit that is coming from CNG is going into the pocket of truck owners, it’s not spreading as fast as I would like it, but it should spread.”

The president recalled his engagement with the union before assuming office, particularly a meeting at Akodo, Lagos, where he made his position on petrol subsidy clear despite threats of industrial action.

Tinubu also reminded them of how he told the union that “you may strike all you want, but fuel subsidy will be gone”.

He said the decision to remove the subsidy was necessary to correct economic distortions and redirect government resources towards projects capable of delivering long-term value to Nigerians.

Tinubu said the federal government would soon publish details of how funds saved from petrol subsidy removal had been utilised.

The president rejected claims that the reforms were targeted at ordinary Nigerians, saying the benefits of a restructured economy would eventually reach workers, families, and businesses across the country.

The politician said the reforms are a process of “financial reengineering and reset”, saying the government is laying the foundation for sustainable economic growth.

‘REFINERIES WILL COME BACK’

On the country’s refineries, Tinubu said the government remains committed to restoring them to productive capacity.

He stressed that the objective is not merely to restart the facilities but to make them commercially viable.

“The refineries that you mentioned is (sic) going to come back to work,” he said.

“Ordinary flame and smoke of a refinery doesn’t mean that it’s working until it is profitable and yields the value for which it is built.”

Tinubu said he had accepted responsibility for both the assets and liabilities inherited from previous administrations and would not dwell on the past.

“It’s my responsibility now as the President to fix it, make it work for the largest common value of our population. I take responsibility for that, and I’m going to do it,” he said.

‘NUPENG SEEKS END TO CASUALISATION OF WORKERS’

Also speaking, Oladiti appealed to Tinubu to intervene in the persistent casualisation of workers in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, particularly in the upstream sector.

“Your Excellency, our relationship with the international oil companies and the indigenous players in the upstream sector has been very cordial,” he said.

“However, we want to seize this opportunity to bring to your attention an unhealthy trend we have been trying to correct with little to no success.

“It is the casualisation of workers, particularly in the upstream sector.”

Oladiti said NUPENG and its sister union, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), had tolerated the practice partly because of the potentially damaging consequences of industrial action in the strategic oil and gas sector.

The NUPENG president appealed to the president to use his office to compel affected companies to end the practice.

“We have engaged the management of some of the affected companies without results. Mr. President, we urge you to use your good offices to stop casualisation of workers in our sector,” he said.

Oladiti commended the administration’s efforts to revive the Warri and Port Harcourt refineries through partnerships with Chinese firms.

However, he urged the president to extend the intervention to the country’s ageing petroleum depots operated by the Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Company (NPSC).

Oladiti recommended that the depots be handed over to private investors under an equity arrangement as part of efforts to restore their functionality.