The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has explained why it opposes the Federal Government’s plan to sell its entire stake in the country’s government-owned refineries.
President of PENGASSAN, Festus Osifo, said selling a 100 per cent stake would mean the government losing total control of the refineries, a situation he warned would be detrimental to Nigeria’s energy security.
Osifo, however, said the union is advocating the sale of about 51 per cent of the government’s stake while retaining 49 per cent, which he described as being more beneficial to Nigerians.
“PENGASSAN, even before the time of Comrade Peter Esele, had been advocating that government should sell its shares. The reason why we don’t want government to sell it 100 per cent to private investors is because of the issue bordering on energy security,” he said.