The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has called on the National Assembly to expedite action on the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

Mr Folorunso Oginni, the Chairman of the union, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.

Oginni said that the passage of the bill would promote the country's participation in international trade, create employment and enhance economic growth.

According to him, the enactment of the bill will also help to attract more international investors to the country.

"The bill will enhance socio-economic growth of our country and create more employment," he said.

Oginni said that the absence of a law to guide operations in the petroleum industry had been hindering the development of the sector.

"Nigeria has not recorded much investment in the oil sector because there is no law governing operations of the country's petroleum industry.

"Most of the oil servicing companies we have here are not working and because they are not working, they have laid off their staff and this has increased the crime rate in the country," he said.

He urged the National Assembly to pass the bill urgently to address issues of pricing in the sector.

Oginni also called for the complete overhaul of the refineries in the country to provide permanent solution to the incessant increase in prices of petroleum products.