Nigeria’s major oil unions have strongly opposed a federal proposal to sell off a large portion of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPC Ltd) interests in joint venture (JV) oil assets.
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) warned that the policy could destabilize the economy, shrink national revenue, and place workers’ welfare at risk.
Union leaders argued that the sale, which would cut government holdings in JVs from the current 55–60% down by as much as 30–35%, amounted to mortgaging the nation’s future for quick cash.
At a joint press briefing in Abuja, Festus Osifo (PENGASSAN President) and Williams Akporeha (NUPENG President) said the plan would leave NNPC Ltd too weak to cover essential obligations, including staff salaries and contributions to the federal budget.
“This proposal will only impoverish the country in the long run,” Osifo said, stressing that past divestments by international oil majors like ENI, ExxonMobil, and Shell had already shifted significant national resources into private hands.
The unions also condemned alleged moves to amend the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) — a law passed in 2021 after decades of debate. According to them, transferring management authority away from the Ministry of Petroleum and diminishing NNPC’s role would undermine the law, scare off investors, and push the company toward bankruptcy.
Akporeha criticized the government’s inconsistency: “Barely three years after enacting the PIA, which investors are just beginning to adapt to, the government is already talking about changing it. No serious oil-producing country undermines its national oil company in this way.”
President Bola Tinubu has already ordered a review of certain NNPC financial provisions under the PIA, including the 30% management fee and the 30% frontier exploration deduction. He tasked the Economic Management Team, led by Finance Minister Wale Edun, to recommend reforms that would optimize federal revenue.
But the unions insist that any reform should strengthen, not dismantle, the national oil company. They have called on the president to intervene directly and halt the divestment plan.
