The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) have lamented their exclusion from the steering committee of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) transition.
The unions conveyed their displeasure in a statement signed by General Secretaries of NUPENG and PENGASSAN, Olawale Afolabi and Lumumba Okugbawa,
They expressed that being in the committee would have helped to ensure that workers’ interests are adequately protected and treated with equity, fairness, justice and socio-considerations.
According to the unions, they were inundated by members and other strategic stakeholders in the industry about their fate, due to non-engagement and dearth of information from the Federal Government.
They maintained that it was their pleasure to see to the successful execution and implementation of the PIA and have taken it as a responsibility to ensure a seamless transition that is accountable, all-inclusive, equitable, fair, just, transparent and, more importantly, to ensure that the interests of the affected and impacted workers and critical stakeholders are adequately catered for and protected during and after the transition.
They also said they led the struggles for the PIA and would not see it badly executed or be run over by those pretending to possess monopoly of wisdom and knowledge, concerning the execution and implementation of the key clauses of the Act that have direct effects and impacts on the working people in particular and the successful implementation of the Act.
They added: “Our demands are very clear and unambiguous. They are purely focusing on the good of the working masses in the industry and the national economic growth and development. Since the assent of the PIA, we have consistently conveyed our concerns to government.”