Workers call off strike
By Ezrel Tabiowo, Joshua Igbodo, Musa Adamu and Moses John, Abuja
The two chambers of the National Assembly yesterday differed on the unbundling of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation.
While the Senate agreed that the exercise followed due process, the House of Representatives however insisted that it was not in conformity with the Corporation’s Establishment Act.
The Senate gave its nod after an interactive session between the Senate’s joint committees on Petroleum (Upstream and Downstream) and Gas, and the Minister of State for Petroleum and Group Managing Director, NNPC, Ibe Kachikwu.
Kachikwu had clarified that the widely reported unbundling of the Corporation into seven separate entities was untrue, adding that the corporation was only restructured.
Briefing newsmen after an executive session with the minister, chairman, Petroleum Upstream, Senator Tayo Alaosaodura (APC Ondo Central), maintained that staff of the Corporation will not be short-changed.
According to the lawmaker, the minister has not contravened the Act establishing the Corporation, pointing out that the restructuring was a right step in the right direction.
He said: “We had a very useful interactive session with him (Kachikwu). We wanted to know how he arrived at what he did but he clarified the issue that he was not unbundling NNPC because NNPC is an entity that was created by an Act of the National Assembly. And nobody
can touch it unless it comes back to the National Assembly for amendment.
“But having looked at what he did and the presentation he made to us and having considered the welfare of the staff of NNPC and those working in the subsidiaries that were affected by the reorganisation that he has done in this sector, we found out that the staff will not be short-changed.
“We also found out that he had not contravened the law because we were worried that he might be acting against the law. But having looked at the law with him, we found out that he did not contravene the law.”
While saying that the NNPC GMD is working in the best interest of Nigeria, he however, pointed out that the minister ought to have carried out more consultation with the National Assembly.
Also speaking, the Acting Chairman, Petroleum Downstream, Senator Jibrin Barau, stressed that the restructuring will turn the entities from “making losses to an era of profitability”.
Earlier at the open door session, members of the committee had expressed divergent opinion on the matter.
While Senators Sola Adeyeye, Chief Whip of the National Assembly, Stella Oduah, Biodun Olujimi and Emmanuel Paulker had opposed the restructuring, Senators Chukwuka Utazi and David Umaru argued that the minister was on the right track.
Taking a different position form the Senate however, the House of Representatives insisted that the exercise ran counter to the Corporation’s establishment Act.
Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Abdulrazak Namdas, in a chat with journalists yesterday in Abuja, explained that the Act of parliament that established the NNPC had provided that there “shall be the inspectorate department which shall be an integral part of the Corporation,” but that same was conspicuously absent in the new arrangement.
He said while the House was not averse to any form of reform that would reposition the NNPC, due process has to be followed by the executive which is expected to revert to the National Assembly for such reforms.
According to him, as a mark of the House’s determination to seeing the oil sector reform succeeds, Speaker Yakubu Dogara had at three separate instances put calls to President Muhammadu Buhari, asking him to transmit the petroleum sector reform Bill to the National Assembly, as it was ready to expeditiously pass same into law, but that the call had not been heeded to by the President.
“What we are saying is that due process must be followed. The minister cannot just unbundle NNPC without reverting to the National Assembly. We are not saying that the idea is bad but if you are making any changes like that, the Petroleum Inspectorate Department must be part
of it, which in this case is absent. So what is wrong in approaching the National Assembly to make input?, the lawmaker stated.
Also fielding questions on whether the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Lawal Daura has complied with the House’s summon to appear over the alleged invasion of the Ekiti State’s House of Assembly, Namdas said communications were ongoing,
and that the outcome would be made public in due course.
On the takeover of the Kogi State House of Assembly by the federal legislature over its lingering crisis , the spokesman who denied knowledge of a faction of the House sitting yesterday said proper action would be taken if that was so, adding that the House had
approached the Senate for concurrence to give the resolution effect.
Meanwhile, NNPC workers have called off their one-day industrial action over the unbundling exercise after a meeting with the management of the Corporation on Wednesday night.
National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) as well as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association, (PENGASSAN), announced the call-off following assurances of job safety.
According to the NNPC, the strike was called-off after an extensive session presided over by the minister of state for petroleum resources and Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, with the leadership of the unions led by their National Presidents, Comrades Igwe Achese and Francis Johnson of NUPENG and PENGASSAN respectively in Abuja.
It further informed that the unions reviewed their stance after a decision was reached to set up a committee with representatives from the unions and NNPC management to look into the new NNPC structure with a view to considering any suggested amendment where necessary.
The NNPC noted that consensus was reached on other outstanding issues bordering on pension matters, job security as well as staff performance and appraisal.
The minister assured the workers that the restructuring was aimed at enhancing capacity utilisation of staff and not creating job losses.
It noted that the meeting ended in the wee-hours of Thursday with a strong commitment from the leadership of the unions to join forces with the management of NNPC to eliminate the prevailing challenges experienced by members of the public in accessing petroleum products across the country.
The workers had earlier in a press release announced the suspension of the industrial action.
It said: “The GECs of NUPENG & PENGASSAN had a marathon meeting with the GMD/Minister of Petroleum (State) and NNPC top management for several hours, ending this morning (yesterday morning) at 4:30am on the ongoing industrial action.
“After exhaustive deliberations, a resolution was signed by the two parties. In view of that, the industrial action is hereby suspended.”
