A critical step has been taken by the House of Representatives to ensure strategic private investments in Nigeria are protected from being held hostage by labour unions.
At the plenary on Tuesday, the green chamber of the National Assembly described as unfortunate the recent face-off between Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
Members of the labour union embarked on an industrial action over a dispute with the private refinery based in Lagos, causing scarcity in cook gas and premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol.
PENGASSAN directed its members to cut off gas supply to Dangote Refinery. It also told its members not to load petroleum products from the refinery, which has the capacity to refine about 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day over an alleged plan by Dangote Refinery to prevent its workers from joining the union.
In a motion jointly sponsored by Mr Ado Doguwa and Mr Abdussamad Dasuki, the lawmakers point out that the actions of the labour unions resulted in financial losses, calling on the federal government to urgently intervene and ensure that such disputes are resolved without jeopardizing vital economic assets.
The lawmakers argued that the strike action violated provisions of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) Act, a part which stipulates a 10-year no-strike rule for investments operating within FTZs.
They noted that the crude oil refinery is located within a Free Trade Zone (FTZ), wondering why the industrial action was allowed in the first place, warning of the potential consequences such disruptions could have on investor confidence and the country’s economic outlook.
The lower arm of the parliament, therefore, resolved to work on policy frameworks that would prevent similar occurrences in the future and charged its leadership to engage with stakeholders to address the growing concerns around labour actions affecting major private sector investments.