Nigeria: Oil Workers Oppose Planned Sale of PPMC, NGC

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Daily Independent (Lagos)

10 October 2008
Posted to the web 10 October 2008

David Agba
Abuja

National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and the Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) have expressed disgust at the planned sale of the Pipeline Products Marketing Company (PPMC) and the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC).

The unions also called for the reversal of the sale of the Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited (ECPL) because, according to them, it was sold by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) below its original value.

They asked the government to prevail on the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to remit the N3.5 billion proceeds from the sales of the properties of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Pension Fund Limited to its account.

The angry unions also demanded immediate sack of the Director General of the BPE, Irene Chigbue, for alleged low integrity scorecard of the Bureau in previous privatisation transactions.

Group Chairman of PENGASSAN, John Elibe, at the news conference in Abuja on Thursday, wondered why the BPE should raise anxiety in the industry through the pronouncement on the proposed sale that contradicts the Oil and Gas Implementation Committee report already articulated in the petroleum industry Bill now with the National Assembly.

It could be recalled that the unions had embarked on a three-day warning strike over certain unresolved issues in 2007.

Chigbo Anichebe, Head Public Communications of the BPE, was quoted in some newspapers as announcing the planned sale of the facilities, a development that has not gone down well with the oil workers.

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