NIGERIAN OIL UNIONS OPPOSE GOVERNMENT’S PLAN TO SELL JOINT VENTURE STAKES
Members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have strongly opposed a reported plan by the Federal Government to divest portions of its stakes in Joint Ventures with international oil companies operating in Nigeria.
The controversy stems from President Bola Tinubu’s directive last month to reassess the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s 30 per cent management fee and 30 per cent frontier exploration deduction under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
During the directive, President Tinubu emphasized the need to optimize government savings, enhance fiscal discipline amid global financial challenges, and streamline deductions from the Federation Account.
However, at a joint news conference in Abuja on Tuesday, PENGASSAN President Festus Osifo and NUPENG President Williams Akporeha argued that selling off these stakes, potentially by 30–35 per cent, would place Nigeria’s oil sector under the control of foreigners and private entities, undermining efforts to stabilize the naira in the foreign exchange market.
