Oil unions workers under the umbrella of NUPENG and PENGASSAN have
reportedly called off their one day-old strike after meeting with the
junior Minister of Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu.
The unions had embarked on strike following the misinterpretation of the
unbundling of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
After meeting with Kachikwu the unions decided to sheath their swords and
get back to work.
Kachikwu assured them that there was no unbundling of NNPC, stressing
that, what was happening was a restructuring.
Oil workers feared that many of them would be sacked if NNPC was unbundled
and they immediately resorted to a strike but they have been reassured
that their jobs are safe at least for now.
“We have not unbundled NNPC. We had a press conference yesterday where I
explained this,” Kachikwu said.
“What we have simply done is reorganisation. We have five business
entities focused on business- Upstream, Downstream, Refineries, Gas and
Power, that are there before.
“There is also ventures that capture all our little companies that were
not having proper stewardship.
“They are run by individuals who report to the GMD. The NNPC is still a
whole. There is nothing new that has happened.
“I have tried to explain this and I am sure the NNPC workers are members
of the family, they will understand.
“We are going to have a meeting, and they will be made to understand.
Perhaps the engagement has not been good enough.
“NNPC has not been unbundled in the sense of breaking up NNPC into
distinct institutions. I am concerned.
“I don’t want the industry shut down. I am sure we are going to resolve
the issues very soon,” he further explained.