Bimbola Oyesola

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has tasked President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure the construction of a new petroleum refineries, part of his agenda as he commences his second term next month.

Calling for the revitalisation of Nigeria’s ailing refineries to pave the way for sufficient supply of petroleum products across the nation, the union insisted that new refineries were needed to support the existing ones to meet domestic demand.

The oil workers, who said Nigeria cannot continue to pay subsidy forever, however, warned that government should only remove petroleum subsidy only if it will not impact negatively on the people.

The oil workers, who argued that it was a shame for the country to be depending on imported products for local consumption, urged Buhari to use his second term in office to end Nigeria’s reliance on imported products.

The union, which made its position known during its National Executive Council meeting on Friday, noted that Nigeria’s over-dependence on imported petroleum products has made the country very vulnerable to the antics and manipulations of local and foreign oil barons.

The union pledged to give the President all necessary support to put an end to the menace.

NUPENG president, Williams Akporeha, who said three refineries could not sustain the economy, called on government to construct new refineries working at full capacity.

He argued that, no matter how government maintains the old refineries, they would never come to full capacity due to the large population of the country.

The union also called for policies to sanction investors that were given licences to construct refineries but failed to bring them to reality.

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Akporeha affirmed the union’s stand against any policy that would impact negatively on the oil and gas industry, the general public and the nation at large.

He called for the creation of an enabling environment and the right policies for those ready to build refineries in the country.

He said: “Why is it so difficult to maintain only three refineries? It cannot sustain the economy. We expect government to create that enabling environment, where more refineries can come into place.

“Let us look at serious-minded investors that are ready to build these refineries, while we look inward to make sure the old refineries are maintained to full capacity.”

The NUPENG boss also charged state governments in the Niger Delta region to create refineries in their domain, saying it would also help in creating jobs and ensuring products availability.

On the flagrant violation of the rights of contract workers in some oil companies, such as Shell Nigeria, the NUPENG president warned that Shell and others should not take the union’s new posture of maintaining peace and harmony in the sector for weakness or abdication of its responsibilities and core mandate to its members.

He noted that Shell has refused to implement the agreement it entered with the workers since 2018 and was subjecting them to conditions set in a CBA that expired in 2016.

“We have resolved to take up this fight and we are putting the public on notice with this press address,” he said.

Similarly, Akporeha lamented that the NLNG has refused its direct workers and those supplied by contractors rights to join the union and collectively negotiate their working conditions.

He said, “The precarious contract and the anti-union posture of NLNG management has frustrated the effort to unionise and negotiate a collective bargaining agreement for the contract employees in NLNG; every day employees lose their jobs as a result of joining the union.”