The House of Representatives Committee on Downstream Petroleum Resources has expressed disagreement with Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) over its ongoing industrial action and ordered some of its branches to cut off Gas and crude oil supply to Dangote Refinery.
The committee, in a statement, opined that PENGASSAN did not give notice and allegedly did not exhaust the laid down procedures specified in the trade union relevant acts.
It also called on the protesting union to lift the order and allow dialogue to lead the way. These were contained in a statement on Saturday.
The Downstream Committee on Petroleum Resources, saddled with the legislative powers of overseeing the 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, said the industrial crisis which among others led to the order for cut of supply to the 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.
He said: “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 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 have 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, 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 Midala Usman, Billy Osawaru and Mathew Nwaogu as members to harmonise positions on the contending issues surrounding the disputes in the downstream 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 the Unions especially NUPENG, PENGASSAN etc.
The Chairman said the committee have 14 days to round up the assignment and called on all the contending Parties, especially NUPENG, PENGASSAN, DANGOTE REFINERY ETC to submit 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 the labour 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), it does not approve of the action embarked upon by the Union with their decision to order the stoppage of gas supply to Dangote Refinery without notice.
“This action is hasty and has 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, which has been championed by the Committee, hence the need for immediate call off of the shutdown directive.”
