BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG
ABEOKUTA— AS members of the House of Representatives begin deliberation on the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, weekend, vowed to shut down the oil industry should the National Assembly pass the bill without Labour concerns.

Similarly, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, has charged members of the National Assembly from the Niger Delta region to ensure that when passed, PIB reflected community relations, environment, ecosystem, the production of crude and everything that had to do with exploration and exploitation of crude oil and its impact on the community.

This came as the Managing Director of Mobil Oil Nigeria, MON Plc, Mr. Tunji Oyebanji, said the non-passage of PIB had created confusion in the nation’s oil industry, lamenting that there was no clear direction in the sector.

Speaking at third triennial delegates’ conference of PENGASSAN, Lagos, zone, President of PENGSSAN, Comrade Babtunde Ogun, said the grouse of workers had been the frequent changes in the bill that tended to undermine the interest of labour, warning that organized labour would not accept any bill that would undermine it.

Ogun said: “In view of the challenges that had made labour to suffer setbacks in the last 50 years of oil exploration and production in Nigeria, it has been one of PENGASSAN’s core objectives to strongly canvass and reflect labour concerns and interests in policies and legislation by both the executive and legislative arms of the government.”

Sector Reforms through adequate representation in the 22-man Oil and Gas Implementation Committee, OGIC, whose recommendations formed good part of the Executive Bill christened “Petroleum Industry Bill” that has been through several legislative processes. However, our grouse has been the frequent changes in the bill that tend to undermine the interest of Labour.

“We have consistently been working round the clock through various legislative and executive platforms to insist on consultation with labour and with its leadership to resolve all grey areas in the Bill to forestall likely unrest if the PIB is passed without considering our concerns. We are sounding a note of warning that should PIB be passed without the labour issues that we have raised, we will shut down the sector.”

Managing Director of Mobil Oil Nigeria, MON Plc, Mr. Tunji Oyebanji, lamented that the non-passage of PIB had compounded the confusion in the nation’s oil industry especially the downstream sector.

He decried the increasing unemployment in the country, saying when he joined MON in 1980, there were over 640 employees, but today, the staff strength is below 150 and expressed sadness that a lot of water had passed under the bridge.

Oyebanji who said there was no clear direction in the downstream sector, noted that there was a lot of confusion, not just the downstream, but in the entire industry, adding that the law that ought to chart a new way forward was going through a lot of difficulties at the National Assembly.

General Secretary of NUPENG, Comrade Elijah Okougbo, told Vanguard that were several unresolved issues about PIB, especially the reports of numerous versions in the National Assembly and called on the lawmakers from the Niger Delta Region, to ensure that the interest of the host communities are adequately protected.