The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN has cautioned that the recently signed Executive Order by President Bola Tinubu will undermine the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, as it will lead to loss of jobs in the oil industry.
In a media chat in Lagos, PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, said the union was "troubled" by the development and called for its immediate withdrawal. "Yesterday evening, we saw a release by one of the presidential spokesmen, Bayo Onanuga, releasing the content of the recently signed Executive Order. When we saw that order yesterday, we were troubled. "Executive orders cannot supersede the law of the land. Executive orders cannot override the provisions of a law. What the president has done is to use an executive order to set aside a law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria," he said.
He cited Sections 8, 9 and 64 of the PIA, noting that the law took over a decade to pass. "It took Nigeria over 10 years to enact the PIA. You cannot wake up one day and, by executive order, set aside key provisions of that law. This is an aberration. It should never have happened."
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Expressing his concern about imminent job loss in the oil and gas industry, the PENGASSAN President said, "Today, we have close to 4,000 of our members working in NNPC. If this is allowed to stand the way it is, in the next few months, our members are in danger of being declared redundant because the company may not be able to meet its obligations. "This will bring about a lot of industrial challenges in the industry. We are worried because this has direct implications for job security and the survival of the industry.
Mr Osifo also countered the presidency's claim that 30 per cent of revenue from production sharing contracts accrues to NNPCL. "It was stated that 30 per cent of the revenue from production sharing contracts goes to NNPC. That is not correct in any way. The actual percentage that gets to NNPC eventually is somewhere below two per cent. The calculations are there," he said. According to him, funds earmarked for frontier exploration do not go directly to NNPCL. "There is a Frontier Exploration Account where the money goes. It does not go to NNPC as a company," he said. PENGASSAN also cautioned that the Executive Order would send wrong signals to the international investment community. "What are we telling investors? What signal are we sending out there that, just with an executive order, you can set aside a law of the land?" Osifo asked. "If this sails through, the international community will lose faith in the PIA. Investors will lose faith in the PIA. Tomorrow, they will think that any provision safeguarding their investment can be set aside by executive order. The signalling is troubling."
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