NNPC shut down as oil workers protest company’s unbundling

Staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Wednesday barricaded every entrance into the Corporation’s headquarters, denying people’s access into the facility and shutting down every activity in protest to the decision of the federal government to unbundle NNPC into several smaller companies.

Ibe Kachikwu, the minister of state for petroleum and group managing director of NNPC, announced Tuesday that President Muhammadu Buhari had already approved the final phase for restructuring the NNPC into seven coordinating units, including an upstream company, a downstream company, a gas and power company, as well as another company in charge of refineries, all to be headed by chief executive officers with independent mandates.

Those appointed to head the newly created units within the NNPC are Bello Rabiu, CEO, NNPC Downstream; Henry Ikem-Obih, CEO, NNPC Upstream; Anibor Kragha, CEO, NNPC Refineries; Saidu Mohammed, CEO, NNPC Gas and Power; Babatunde Adeniran, CEO, NNPC Ventures; Isiaka Abdulrazaq, CEO, NNPC Finance and Services, and Isa Inuwa, the executive head of NNPC Corporate services.

However, the visibly angry protesters, who are part of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), expressed dissatisfaction with the proposed unbundling of NNPC due to what many people called “fears of job loss that could follow the process.”

A mid level staff of NNPC, who spoke with BusinessDay on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to do so publicly, said that the minister’s decision to restructure NNPC was taken in secrecy with one or two persons and that NNPC staff just got to know about it from the media.

He also said the all NNPC facilities nationwide and not just in Abuja would remain under lock and key on account of the protests.

“If the minister is bringing in people from outside the Corporation to man positions at the top, what message is he passing across about the future of those who have been growing in the system, is that how it is done?, he queried.

While announcing the unbundling of NNPC Tuesday, Kachikwu insisted that “the mandate given to him by President Buhari “was not to get anyone fired but to ensure that the divisional breakups become more focused on business, as more companies will create more work for an overstaffed and sometimes idle workforce, getting them busier and more productive.”

There are growing concerns that, if not contained, the shut down at NNPC due to the protests could result in a fresh round of fuel scarcity across the nation after a prolonged episode of the same problem is just trying to ease off.

 

YANGE IKYAA