11 December 2013, Port Harcourt – Oil workers yesterday, in Eleme, Rivers State, protested Federal Government’s planned sale of the four public refineries, threatening to declare a nationwide strike should government go ahead with the planned sale.
Under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and their Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, the oil workers said government should rather carry out a comprehensive turn around maintenance on the refineries for optimal performance.
They vowed to continue to oppose the planned sale because it was anti-Nigeria and anti-people.
Earlier, NUPENG, at its National Executive Council, NEC, meeting in Okrika, where it vowed to resist the planned sale of the refineries, insisted that the oil workers would not hesitate to shut down the sector if reason failed to prevail on the government.
President of the union, Achese Igwe, told newsmen that he was shocked that Nigeria, as the 6th largest oil producing country, would contemplate selling off its refineries, arguing that they would declare a national strike against the move.
He urged the Federal Government to take steps towards making the refineries function optimally, adding that the government should address the issue of casualisation in some of the multinational oil firms.
– Jimitota Onoyume, Vanguard
