The Federal Government has assured contractors who have commitment with the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) as well as the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) of a secured obligation going forward.
Minister of state for petroleum resources, Timipre Sylva gave this assurance when he accompanied the new chief executive officers (CEOs) of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NPRA) and Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NURC) to their offices.
President Muhammadu Buhari had appointed Farouk Ahmed as the CEO of the NMDRA and Gbenga Komolafe as the CEO of NURC.
The minister had explained that the defunct agencies ceased to exist following the inauguration of board members for their successor organisations.
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He said “In order to douse the tension of workers and contractors, we have escorted the new CEOs to resume offices.
“We assure NARTO and other parties who have commitment with the defunct agencies that whatever liabilities and obligations they have with them will be taken care of by the new organisations.”
According to him, with the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the NPRA and NURC had taken over the functions of the DPR, PPPRA and PEF.
He also assured that the staff of the defunct agencies have nothing to worry about, adding that no job would be lost.
“This transition is backed by law, hence the staff are expected to give the needed cooperation to the new CEOs.
“We assure the staff that anything concerning welfare will not be compromised as the law protects you completely,” he said.
He, however, stated that the law did not protect the jobs of the chief executives of the defunct agencies, as they were political appointees.
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