By Tina Amanda
The President of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigerian (PENGASSAN), Comrade Festus Usifo, says the Union is ready to shut all Oil field locations if the ongoing discussion with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) yields no positive result.
Usifo who is also the President of Trade Union Congress (TUC) stated this when he made an appearance on a national television program, maintaining that the Union’s stand is for due process to be followed by NAOC.
According to him, the Union does not buy into rolling their members over to Oando PLC without an adequate development plan for workers who have labored so many years for Agip company.
“What we are asking is that we need to be sure, our members have worked with NAOC over the years, some have worked for over thirty years, some at the point of retirement and you are saying you want to hand them over to a new company.
“The question is; the liabilities that have been incurred by Agip, the pension, gratuity you are supposed to pay these people does Oando have the financial well with Dal to be able to meet this financial obligation to our members that is the first thing.
“As a patriotic association we are also asking Oando you are buying this what is your development plan, because the future of our members depends on that company, if the company folds them our members will go home.
“If we are not satisfied with the plan we will say pay us our obligations we do not want to be transited into Oando, pay us our money. I have worked for you for thirty-five (35), I have worked for you for thirty (30) years, pay me my perseverance, and let’s discuss a special separation package so that I go.
“If I now want to join Oando it would be based on my discretion anything I see I take, but the years I have put in Agip and NAOC settle me”.
The TUC President explained that Oando PLC can not manage and sustain production like the International Oil Companies IOC’s which inject finances in managing the assets.
“When the IOCs were managing most of this asset they have the finances to inject into it and we could have sustained production that is the real challenge we would be having, and those are the discussions we are also fronting with Agip group.
“Part of operations like stimulation operations, they do not do well enhancement so we would have issues those wells will start declining”.
He however insists that Agip must sit and have a conversation with the operators working in the oil field locations and ensure their demands are met.
“We have people who are working in the field locations, the operators working there, you can not bring people who are dissatisfied to be running your assets it does not work like that.
“Who is going to run it? Is it the management of Oando that will just come there and start pressing the buttons, no you need these employees. So you must sit down and have a conversation with them
“If they insist on not complying they know the consequence, we will withdraw our members from the respective field locations. What we are doing now is conversation, consultation, and discussion with the Agip management”.
Meanwhile, members of Agip Group Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) have held a series of prayer sections in various NAOC offices and Field locations across Delta, Rivers, Imo, and Bayelsa States.
The workers are using the prayer sections to seek God’s Intervention and also support the call that the Federal Government and relevant government agencies should impress on NAOC to follow due process on the engagement of Nigeria Workers on the alleged sales of NAOC shares to Oando.
They prayed that the Nigerian labor laws would be enforced rigorously to protect the interests of the workforce during the tumultuous transition.
They however prayed for God’s protection on all their members whom the alledged sale of Eni’s assets to Oando has unleashed a storm of uncertainty, fear, and despair upon its loyal workforce.
