Mkpoikana Udoma 29 March 2017, Sweetcrude, Port Harcourt – Labour unions in the Nigerian petroleum industry – the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, and the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG – have called for mass action over the continued delay in the passage of the much-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, into law.
The bill is currently trapped in the National Assembly after it was re-introduced last year following its misadventure in the preceding session.
The unions said that without an organised and sustained ‘fight’ by Nigerians, the Petroleum Industry Bill will never be passed.
Chairman, NUPENG/PENGASSAN Joint Committee on the PIB, Mr. Chika Onuegbu, stated this at an event organised by the Rivers State Council of the Trade Union Congress, TUC, in Port Harcourt.
He called on the labour movement and the civil society to come together and mobilise the people to force the National Assembly to pass the bill.
In a speech titled, “Petroleum Industry Bill: Dynamics, Controversies and Way forward”, Onuegbu said it was painful especially for a country with high unemployment, low foreign direct investment, poor infrastructure and in great recession, to lose some $200 billion investment as a result of the non-passage of the bill.
Appealing to Nigerians to pay special attention to developments around the PIB, he said this was necessary to ensure that there were no surprises and that the right thing was done in the best interest of Nigeria.
