The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have opposed an alleged plan by the Federal Government to sell off some of its stakes in Joint Ventures (JVs) with international oil companies operating in Nigeria.
The controversy follows President Bola Tinubu’s directive for a reassessment of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) 30 per cent management fee and 30 per cent frontier exploration deduction under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). Tinubu charged the Economic Management Team to optimise government savings, enhance fiscal discipline, and streamline deductions from the Federation Account.
Speaking at a joint news conference in Abuja on Tuesday, PENGASSAN President Festus Osifo and NUPENG President Williams Akporeha warned that selling government stakes in JV assets — reportedly as much as 30 to 35 per cent — would put Nigeria’s oil sector in the hands of foreigners and private individuals, weaken the NNPCL, and erode efforts to defend the naira.
Currently, the Federal Government holds between 55 and 60 per cent of JV assets through the NNPCL. The unions argued that reducing this stake would harm long-term economic security, bankrupt the NNPCL, impair its ability to meet obligations such as salaries and welfare, and shrink its contributions to the national budget.
“The NNPCL manages JV assets on behalf of the Federation. Every oil well belongs to the Nigerian people collectively, not just the Federal Government. If these stakes are sold, the federation loses, and the national oil company will be too weak to deliver,” Osifo said.
The unions also accused the Ministry of Finance of attempting to remove the Ministry of Petroleum from joint ownership of the NNPCL. They warned that proposed amendments to the PIA would strip the company of its core national role, scare away investors, and send negative signals about Nigeria’s policy consistency.
“The PIA was passed after years of struggle. Investors are just beginning to adapt to it. Now, the government wants to amend it again? That is a dangerous signal,” Akporeha said.
Both unions vowed to resist any attempt to implement the alleged plan and urged the government to halt any proposed amendments to the PIA.
“Whoever mooted this idea, whether from the Ministry of Petroleum, Ministry of Finance, NNPCL, or even the Presidency itself, we reject it 100 per cent. It will make NNPCL bankrupt in a few years. We will not allow that to happen,” Osifo maintained.
Akporeha added: “When laws are inconsistent, they scare away investment. The investors are just beginning to understand the PIA, and suddenly government wants to change it again.”
