—Say it’s capable of plunging economy into crisis
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
ABUJA — THE Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, on Tuesday, rejected alleged plans by the Federal Government to divest significant stakes in Joint Venture,JV assets, managed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL.
The two unions have also raised the alarm that there was a grand design to amend the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, accusing the Ministry of Finance of plotting to hijack the running of oil and gas instead of the NNPCL. would be in charge
They warned that the move could endanger the country’s economic stability, weaken its oil industry and jeopardise the welfare of workers.
Besides, they said such action is sending a negative signal to investors, and called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and halt the plan.
At a joint briefing in Abuja, PENGASSAN President, Comrade Festus Osifo alongside his NUPENG counterpart, Williams Akporeha, said the proposed sale would not only undermine national revenue but also mortgage the future of coming generations.
The oil workers argued that government’s plan to cut its stakes in JV assets, currently between 55 and 60 percent by as much as 30 to 35 percent for quick cash was short-sighted and dangerous.
The unions recalled past divestments by international oil companies such as ENI, ExxonMobil, and Shell, which saw their Nigerian operations acquired by domestic firms.
They insisted that further sales of government stakes would leave NNPC Ltd weakened and unable to meet critical obligations such as salaries, benefits, and national budget contributions.
Comrade Osifo said: “Government is wanting to reduce its stake in these assets, principally, they want to sell some huge percentages in these assets. In some places, sell up 35 percent, in some places sell up 30 percent, so that they will have some cash to spend in other areas.
“That is the excuse that they are giving. But as an association, as PENGASSAN and NUPENG, we say no, no, no to this. You cannot mortgage our future today and tomorrow we will be starving as a country.
“If we allow this to continue, it has a way of making NNPC become bankrupt in the next few years. There are obligations that must be met, the chief of these obligations is payment of staff salaries and welfare of our members.
“Whoever mooted this idea, whether from the Ministry of Petroleum, Ministry of Finance, NNPC Ltd, or the Presidency itself, we reject it 100 percent,” the unions said.
“As you could recall a while ago, there were some divestments that took place in some of these JVs. If you could remember very well, in the ENI, Nigeria Agip Oil Company, it was bought over by Oando Energy and Natural Resources. And also, Seplat bought over the JV components of ExxonMobil.
“Today, there is a plan moved by government to reduce their stake in these JV operations. Currently, government holds between 55 percent to 60 percent of the JV assets in these companies.
“That is the stake of government today. And this stake of government today is being managed by NMPC Limited. So, they manage this JV on behalf of the Federation.
“And remember, every crude oil asset in Nigeria, every oil well in Nigeria, is not just owned by federal government, but it is owned by the federation. And NNPC limited is managing these assets on behalf of the federation. So the federation is everybody, collectively.”
On the concern over the alleged ongoing moves to amend the PIA, passed in 2021 after decades of debate, they alleged that the Ministry of Finance was seeking to remove the Ministry of Petroleum from joint ownership of NNPC Ltd, which they described as an aberration and a backdoor attempt to hijack the company.
According to them, the amendments would strip NNPC Ltd of its core national role, undermine investor confidence, and eventually drive the company into bankruptcy.
They said, “As a responsible association, we will fight this with everything in us because we strongly believe that these amendments that they are proposing, it is not correct, it is totally wrong.
“We have seen that it is a national oil company that manages the PLC on behalf of a country, on behalf of a federation. So, if you don’t have ulterior motives, why do you want to move it? Yes, we are happy because we also have members in the regulatory arm. But, unfortunately, the regulators are supposed to be the police of the industry.
“The regulators are supposed to be there to ensure that everybody plays according to the rules. So, it is totally wrong if you don’t have ulterior motives to say that you want to move the NNPCL management to the regulator as a concession. It is totally not correct.
“So, for us, we are totally against this. Let us do what is right as a country. What they are doing today, they are sending negative signals to the investors.
“What they are doing today, they are telling the world that yes, we have passed PIA. It is a law, but they don’t rely on this law that we have passed. That is clearly what they are doing as a government.
“And I think President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should look at this carefully and should call these people to order. He should call the Minister of Finance. He should call the Board Chairman of the NNPCL, he should call GCEO and NNPCL to order and let them understand that this is not the direction to go.
“If all these were done before he came on board, I’m not sure that he would be able to get revenue to drive the budget. So, for us, we are sending a strong warning to them that they should cease and desist because it’s teaching time, save time”
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