Business

PPPRA, DPR workers kick against new PIB

Published

8 years ago

December 21, 2015

In from Ali Smart . . .
Workers’ union in the oil and gas sector have rejected outright the redraft Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) which is expected to be presented to the National Assembly to replace the previous one not passed by the Seventh Assembly.

According to the workers’ union, the new bill titled: “Petroleum Industry Governance & Institutional Framework Bill 2015,” is not the interest of the industry.
The workers argued that if the redrafted bill is passed as it is, it will lead to job loss across the sector.

Among those who may be affected are staff of regulatory agencies such as the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF).

To prevent this from happening, the workers under the auspices of Regulators Forum have since petitioned the national leadership of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).

The petition signed by PENGASSAN Chairman, PPPRA Chapter, Victor Ononokpono, along with his DPR counterpart, Garba Bello, and PEF, Aminu Ahmed said the concerns of the workers bordered on observations that the redraft institutional and legal framework for reforms in the oil and gas industry may have inadvertently left the oil workers in the cold.
While commending the Minister’s effort to stimulate reforms in the industry after several failed attempts in the past, they argued that some inconsistencies in the draft PIB have stirred some real fears about a veiled attempt by government to sack its members.

The workers drew attention to some of the inconsistencies especially in Part 3 of the redraft PIB which seek to establish the Nigeria Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NPRC), Section 13, on the composition of its Board, and Section 87, on the Transfer of staff.

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