By Gift ChapiOdekina
The House of Representatives has constituted an ad-hoc committee, chaired by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, to mediate in the on-going dispute between the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, and the Dangote Refinery.
The decision followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance jointly sponsored by Alhassan Ado Doguwa and Abdulsamad Dasuki, titled “The Need to Protect Strategic Private Investments from Adversarial Unionism,” during yesterday’s plenary.
Moving the motion, Doguwa expressed concern over the recent face-off between PENGASSAN and the management of the Dangote Refinery located in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos.
The industrial action, he said, disrupted operations at the $20 billion facility, the largest single-train refinery in the world.
According to Doguwa, the strike resulted in a temporary disruption of crude oil production, with an estimated daily loss of 200,000 barrels over three days.
He added that the situation aggravated the fuel supply crisis nationwide, leading to scarcity and long queues at filling stations across several states, thereby inflicting hardship on Nigerians.
He said: “Dangote Refinery represents a strategic private investment of immense national importance, with the capacity to strengthen energy security, reduce dependence on fuel importation, create jobs, and save foreign exchange.
“We are aware that the Dangote Refinery operates within a Free Trade Zone, and therefore falls under the regulatory framework of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, particularly Section 18(5) of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Act which clearly states that ‘Employment in the free zone shall be governed by rules and regulations made by the Authority and not subject to the provisions of any enactments relating to employment matters.’
“The House is concerned that actions by labour unions that disregard the legal protections conferred on Free Zones under the NEPZA Act not only constitute a breach of law but also create a hostile investment environment that may deter future local and foreign investors.”
“We are worried that if private investments of strategic national importance are continually subjected to unlawful disruptions by adversarial unionism, Nigeria risks not only the failure of key economic assets but also the erosion of investor confidence necessary for national growth and development.”
Following the adoption of the motion, the House urged its leadership to broker peace between the two parties in the interest of the nation.
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