Oil workers urge Buhari to monitor activities of security agents in oil region, demand action against pipeline vandals

Abiodun OBA

OIL and gas workers have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to monitor the activities of security agents in the oil region.

Marching under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, in Abuja, the workers who made the call on the President said companies in the industry were struggling to stay afloat due to loss of revenue.

They protested against the rising level of crude oil theft in the Niger Delta and demanded that the Federal Government take action against the vandals of pipelines.

Addressing its members at the Unity Fountain, the President of PENGASSAN, Comrade Festus Osifo said the group decided to stage the

protest after several engagements with stakeholders and the security agencies failed to stem the tide.

Osifo explains: “We felt that as a responsible trade union, as a responsible association that the first thing we needed to do was to engage and have a constructive dialogue. These we have done but it has yielded nothing instead the issue get degenerating on a daily basis. Instead, the thieves get emboldened on a daily basis and at the end of the day there is a total collusion that is going on in the Niger Delta as we speak.

“Today, a lot of companies operating in the Niger Delta region, especially in the land location, have shut in their production. They don’t produce anymore in most of the land locations. It is affecting literally every single operator in the Niger Delta. They shut in their production because their effort has become fruitless.

“When you pump in 10,000 barrels into the pipeline at best you are going to get 1,000 barrels at the end. Over 95 percent crude oil pumped into the pipeline is stolen. So the majority of them have to shut down production and because they have shut down production the welfare of our members is being threatened, the jobs of our members are being threatened”.

He pointed out that the lack of liquidity in the industry has affected their negotiations with the companies adding that the companies were complaining that their products are being stolen.

“A lot of service companies are folding up because the producing companies cannot meet their cash obligations to them. So it is a real challenge, it is a real problem. It is not threatening our members; it is an existential threat to Nigeria. Today, we are seeing that there is no remittance to the Federation Account because of the fact that the money that comes in barely takes care of the subsidy talk less remitting to the Federation Account. The Nigerian government keeps borrowing over and over again. This is the very first time in a very long while that oil will be selling at over $100 and the Nigerian government keeps borrowing in order to meet its obligations”.

Osifo disclosed that while the rallies were taking place in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri simultaneously, the Lagos protest would take place on Friday.