Oil workers kick against plan to sack refinery chiefs

As parts of efforts to ensure the efficient and profitable running of the country’s refineries through, Turn Around Maintenance, (TAM) in order to meet local consumption, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has warned officials of the corporation that they may be replaced with technocrats, if they fail in their responsibility to meet set target.

The NNPC, GMD revealed this in a statement issued at the weekend by Mr Ohi Alegbe, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division after a session with the management staff of corporation and the managing directors of the nation’s four refineries, in Abuja.

According to the GMD, the corporate service unit and all the strategic business units of the NNPC would be run as profit centres. He however noted that the four refineries capacity requires about 300,000bpd, adding that local refineries do not need all the 445, 000 barrel per day crude allocation to the corporation.

He further disclosed that the directors of the refineries would be empowered to take certain decisions without recourse to the headquarters, a move which would enable to corporation to assess their performance.

He said, “Any manager who cannot meet its targets would be replaced and if I have to go the private sector to get capable hands to manage the refineries I will. All local crude allocation to the corporation must be accounted for in the new dispensation

He also cautioned that the days of perceiving the corporation as a civil service is over, he also charged the management staff to team up with him to close the skills gap and turn the fortunes of the corporation around.

According to him, his administration will give conducive working environment for members of staff, adding that for NNPC to transform into a profit establishment, the morale of the work force must be high.

Meanwhile the GMD, charged the newly constituted management, to provide leadership by example to the workforce, according to him sectionalism, tribalism and any form of non-transparent transactions must be completely stamped out.

He also warned the members of staff of the corporation, to maintain professional ethics by acting as change agents.

He also promised that within the next 60 days, some of the strategic targets would be translated into concrete milestones to the appreciation of Nigerian

Earlier, the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), have kicked against the approach being adopted by the new GMD, in the implementation of some his reform programme with the corporation.

The unions, revealed this in a joint statement signed by Mr. Francis Johnson, the President, PENGASSAN, its counterpart Mr. Igwe Achese NUPENG.

According to the unions, the oil workers are not being carried along in some of the reforms.

They however implored the new GMD to recover the stolen trillions of naira in the sector rather than retiring and sacking innocent workers, which is seen as an act of cover-up.’

The union noted that there they are fully in support of the fight against corruption and reforms being carried out, but warned that the cleansing within the corporation should not be aimed at the staff of the corporation whom the government swore to protect.

The Union said, “The ongoing exercise portends a great danger in the oil and gas sector, if workers are meant to bear the brunt of government’s current action where the fight of corruption is now used as an act of vindictiveness against workers.

“We dare Dr. Kachikwu, to recover the stolen trillions of naira in the sector rather than retiring and sacking of innocent workers. We see the action as an act of cover up. We are quite sure that the ongoing action is not the idea of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“We are therefore calling on President Buhari to call the GMD to stop the ongoing sack action in the corporation and set up a team to review his action for justice, equity and fairness which Mr. President stands for.” he noted.

The unions further revealed that they had made efforts to reach out to PMB, on the issue but were being kept in the dark by those in charge of protocol.

“However, our commitment to protect and defend job security and welfare is paramount and cannot be sacrificed. We shall approach it as it becomes expedient whatever government steps and actions that are viewed as dialectical or capable of suppressing our missions and objectives as a labour movement.