Across the country, there is still a total shut down of all offices and locations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the demand of its workers for pension and other entitlements.
The also include Nigeria Gas Company (NGC), Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Integrated Data Services Limited (IDSL), and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
Export of crude oil may be disrupted, likewise import of refined petroleum products. The NNPC accounts for 60 per cent of refined products.
The Media and Information Officer of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Babatunde Oke, said the strike will continue until the NNPC meets the demands, which include
• Adequate and regular funding of the pension system.
• Immediate steps to carry out turn around maintenance (TAM) on the four refineries as agreed between the government and the two unions – PENGASSAN and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).
• Restoration of crude oil supply to refineries.
Oke insisted that the matter has gone beyond the Pension Commission (PenCom) giving a grace period of one year to the NNPC; rather, it should put in place machinery to fund the pension system without any bureaucratic bottleneck.
The pension system is stalled because of the inability of the board of the NNPC to meet for over a year to approve the proposal for its funding.
On the maintenance of refineries, Oke said the federal government should implement without delay the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between it and the unions.
He recalled that Abuja promised to begin the repairs in April but “this is September, we have not seen any commitment from the government.”