NIGERIA’S oil workers’ unions have strongly rejected reports that the Federal Government is considering selling part of its stakes in joint ventures with international oil companies.
At a joint press briefing in Abuja yesterday, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) warned that such a move would weaken the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), jeopardise national interests, and undermine economic stability.
The controversy follows President Bola Tinubu’s directive in August for a review of the NNPCL’s 30 per cent management fee and 30 per cent frontier exploration deduction as provided under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The President tasked his Economic Management Team to ensure fiscal discipline, improve government savings, and reduce deductions from the Federation Account.
However, the unions insist that reducing government stakes in joint venture assets by 30–35 per cent would hand too much control of Nigeria’s oil sector to private and foreign players.
They argued that the plan could bankrupt the NNPCL, erode its contributions to the national budget, and impair its ability to meet obligations such as salaries and welfare.
“Every oil well belongs to Nigerians collectively. If these stakes are sold, the federation loses, and the NNPCL becomes too weak to deliver,” said PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo.
His NUPENG counterpart, Williams Akporeha, added that the proposed amendments to the PIA, enacted barely three years ago, would scare away investors and undermine policy consistency.
The unions also accused the Ministry of Finance of attempting to edge out the Ministry of Petroleum from joint ownership of NNPCL, warning that such actions would strip the national oil company of its strategic role.
They vowed to resist any attempt to proceed with the plan, describing it as a “recipe for crisis.”