Sam Ikeotuonye 04 July 2016, Sweetcrude, Lagos – The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, says despite agreement that employers in the oil and gas sector should put on hold redundancy in the industry, the management of some services companies are still engaged in the practice.
This was one of the labour issues raised by PENGASSAN in threatening recently to shut down operations and activities in the nation’s oil and gas industry.
Spokesperson of the association, Emmanuel Ojugbana, who disclosed this, decried the continued practice.
He also stated that despite tripartite agreement between the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, employers, and the two trade unions in the industry – PENGASSAN and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, some employers still went ahead to sack workers.
Ojugbana called on the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, NAPIMS, to direct that a clear policy statement be established against frequent redundancy plans by operators.
He also spoke of the need for a review of irregular joint venture funding and cash call payment arrears bedevilling the industry as well as to ensure a clear direction on the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, still awaiting passage at the National Assembly.
Still on cash call arrears, Ojugbana maintained that besides that they are in arrears, they are always much below the approved value after delays in releasing them.
He highlighted the effect of this on the industry, saying: “The effect of non-payment has led to thousands of job losses across the sectors and non-creation of new jobs against the backdrop of the electoral promises of employment generation by the current government. A stitch in time saves nine”.