NUPENG, PENGASSAN Kick Against Federal Government’s Planned Sale Of Oil, Gas Assets

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), connected Tuesday, rejected alleged plans by the national authorities to merchantability important stakes successful Joint Venture (JV) assets, managed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd).

The 2 captious unions warned that the determination could endanger the country’s economical stability, weaken its lipid manufacture and jeopardise the payment of workers.

At a associated briefing successful Abuja, PENGASSAN President, Comrade Festus Osifo speaking alongside NUPENG President, Williams Akporeha, said the projected merchantability would not lone undermine nationalist gross but besides owe the aboriginal of coming generations.

The lipid workers argued that government’s program to chopped its stakes successful JV assets, presently betwixt 55 and 60 percent by arsenic overmuch arsenic 30 to 35 percent for speedy currency was short-sighted and dangerous.

The unions recalled past divestments by planetary lipid companies specified arsenic ENI, ExxonMobil, and Shell, which saw their Nigerian operations acquired by home firms.

They insisted that further income of authorities stakes would permission NNPC Ltd weakened and incapable to conscionable captious obligations specified arsenic salaries, benefits, and nationalist fund contributions.

Both unions besides raised interest implicit ongoing moves to amend the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), passed successful 2021 aft decades of debate.

They alleged that the Ministry of Finance was seeking to region the Ministry of Petroleum from associated ownership of NNPC Ltd, which they described arsenic an aberration and a backdoor effort to hijack the company.

According to them, the amendments would portion NNPC Ltd of its halfway nationalist role, undermine capitalist confidence, and yet thrust the institution into bankruptcy.

They said, “Government is wanting to trim its involvement successful these assets, principally, they privation to merchantability immoderate immense percentages successful these assets. In immoderate places, merchantability up 35 percent, successful immoderate places merchantability up 30 percent, truthful that they volition person immoderate currency to walk successful different areas.

“That is the excuse that they are giving. But arsenic an association, arsenic PENGASSAN and NUPENG, we accidental no, no, nary to this. You cannot owe our aboriginal contiguous and time we volition beryllium starving arsenic a country.

“If we let this to continue, it has a mode of making NNPC go bankrupt successful the adjacent fewer years. There are obligations that indispensable beryllium met, the main of these obligations is outgo of unit salaries and payment of our members.

“Whoever mooted this idea, whether from the Ministry of Petroleum, Ministry of Finance, NNPC Ltd, oregon the Presidency itself, we cull it 100 percent,” the unions said.

They called connected President Bola Tinubu to intervene instantly and halt the process.

Details later…