Oil & Gas

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Stakeholders in the oil and gas sector raise a 13-man committee to examine all issues raised by the industrial unions in the industry

|  By Anayo Ezugwu  |  Jul. 15, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT

IN its bid to promote industrial harmony in the oil and gas sector, stakeholders in the industry have adopted a-12-point resolution aimed at addressing issues raised by industrial unions in the industry. The stakeholders have appointed a-13-man committee led by Andrew Yakubu, group managing director, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to look into the all issues raised by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN.

In a 12 point communique jointly signed by the representatives of all stakeholders and government, the issues of insecurity, pipeline vandalism and oil theft, the stakeholders said that government has put in place a committee to x-ray the issues, relating to insecurity, pipeline vandalism and oil theft. It stated that PENGASSAN and NUPENG will be further informed by all the relevant government agencies and other security institutions on the progress being made.

The issue of bad roads also received attention. It was noted that government was already dealing with the issue extensively including applying resources from the SURE – P, and promised to continue in its efforts to rehabilitate the roads that are still posing challenges. It was resolved that poor access road to the Port Harcourt refinery would be captured in the ongoing reconstruction of the East–West road. It was agreed that the current rehabilitation of the railways be sustained to complement the road network in the country.

On the issue of unfair labour practice, it was resolved that the unions should submit the list of all unfair labour practices to the 13-man committee headed by the permanent secretary, ministry of petroleum resources. On alleged breaches of the guidelines on contract staffing and outsourcing in the oil and gas sector, the trade unions were encouraged to make available specific cases on such breaches to the 13–man committee and the federal ministry of labour and productivity. The forum was unanimous in their resolve that unionisation is an inalienable right of workers as established by the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria and the standards of the international labour organisation.

It was agreed that all issues of casualisation, contract staffing outsourcing, contract service and collective bargaining agreements should be referred to the 13-man committee. The stakeholders also resolved issues of nomenclature and harmonization, Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, pension, National Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, petroleum tanker drivers and Federal Inland Revenue Service imbroglio.

Emeka Wogu, minister of labour and productivity, said subsequent stakeholders’ meeting would be held jointly with the ministers of petroleum resources, and labour and productivity, as the need arises. He stated that though the petroleum minister was away on a presidential assignment in Moscow, he has her concurrent approval to convene the forum.

Commenting on the resolutions, Igwe Achese, national president, NUPENG, commended Yakubu for his fatherly role in ensuring industrial harmony in the sector. “We want to specifically thank Yakubu for his role in ensuring an end to the strike and in convening this stakeholders meeting. Indeed, if we continue in this direction, strike will be a forgotten issue in our industry,” he said.

Yakubu thanked the unions and other stakeholders for their understanding while assuring the public that the NNPC has enough stock of petroleum products to stabilise the system after the 48 hours strike action by NUPENG. “I want to assure Nigerians once again that we have enough volumes to go round, I can confirm that PPMC depots have commenced loading and we are doing everything possible to normalise the system,” he said.

The meeting was attended by Wogu, Yakubu, Godwin Onwughalu, permanent secretary, ministry of labour and productivity, Achese, Batunde Ogun, national president, PENGASSAN, Ayoola Sadiq, national deputy president, NARTO, as well as the representatives of the IOCs.

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