The House of Representatives Committee on Downstream Petroleum Resources has opposed the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) over its ongoing industrial action and order to some of their branches to cut off gas and crude oil supplies to Dangote Refinery.
The legislative committee said PENGASSAN’s action was without notice and exhaustion of the laid down procedures specified in the trade union relevant Acts, calling on the protesting union to lift the order and allow dialogue to lead the way.
The Downstream Committee on Petroleum Resources saddled with the legislative powers of oversighting downstream petroleum sector, lamented the likely economic damage that can hurt ongoing efforts to attract investors and build a working downstream sector that will be beneficial to the workers, Nigerian people, energy security and a commercially viable competitive downstream sector.
According to the chairman of the Committee, Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, during a press briefing in Lagos, he said the industrial crisis, which among others led to the order for cutoff supply to indigenous refining company – Dangote – will destabilise downstream stability and scare investors away from the country as the directive was made in a haste without all necessary avenues for addressing their grievances exhausted.
“This decision will scare away foreign investors who will be worried that due process does not count in addressing grievances in the sector, hence the need for the union to return to the table for a direct talks to be presided over by the downstream committee with regulators, labour ministry, Dangote Refinery in attendance to find a working sustainable solution to the challenges,” Ugochinyere stated
He further called on PENGASSAN to end the ongoing action as well as restore supply to Dangote and allow lawmakers to intervene in the matter in the interest of the nation.
He said the committee has reached out to stakeholders for a downstream stability roundtable in order to enable the parties including Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), PENGASSAN and Nigeria Union of Petroleum, Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and lawmakers, to resolve the issues that led to the shutdown order.
The chairman announced that the committee has also appointed Hon. Akin Rotimi as Sub-committee chairman with Hon. Midala Usman, Hon. Billy Osawaru and Hon. Mathew Nwaogu, as members to harmonise positions on the contending issues surrounding the disputes in the downstream petroleum sector as it has to do with issue of workers right to join or not to join union, the alleged issue of retrenchment, powers of private companies to run its operations in the best productive way, and other issues central to the dispute between Dangote Refinery and labour unions, especially NUPENG, PENGASSAN, and others.
The House Committee chairman said the panel has 14 days to round up the assignment and called on all the contending parties, especially NUPENG, PENGASSAN, Dangote Refinery, and others, to submit a detailed information on all the contending issues to enable the committee to come out with an informed way forward that can help to resolve all the issues
Ugochinyere reiterated the call on the aggrieved oil and gas workers to end the industrial action and embrace methods of resolving Laboir union crisis such as negotiation and dialogue as well as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) recognised by labour laws everywhere.
“While this committee acknowledged the concerns of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), however it does not approve of the action embarked upon by the Union with their decision to order for stoppage of gas supply to Dangote Refinery without notice. This action is hasty and have multiplier effects on the energy needs of Nigerians plus likely damage to a delicate private sector investment and destabilisation of the search for sustainable peace been championed by the Committee, hence the need for immediate call off of the shutdown directive,” he declared.
