The Petroleum and National Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has urged President Mohammadu Buhari to formulate an effective legal framework to check oil theft.
It said the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) should be revisited if the President wants to block leakages in the oil and gas sector.
The National President of the association, Comrade Francis Johnson, stated this at a training programme organised for executive members of union on “Managing New Skills in Labour Relations.”
Johnson accused major oil firms of making oil workers redundant through their response to the falling crude oil price.
He said, “Let the government come out with a strong legal framework that can stabilise the industry. Look at GSM, it was not like this when it started.
“You can look at giving Nigerians more licences. Let Nigerians build refineries because they can also create jobs. When you have a legal framework for oil and gas, the issue of pipeline vandalism and state of our refineries will be taken care of.
“Oil companies, oil majors, (International Oil Companies) IOCs should not be taking advantage of the fallen crude oil prices. You cannot say that because there is a fall in crude oil price, which is something that is temporary and fluctuating, you want to make our members redundant and you are employing new people.”
“It is not acceptable to us. We want to appeal to the government that, in view of the fluctuating crude oil prices, it must also be looking at diversifying the economy.”
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