Oil workers chide Ngige, condemn threat to proscribe NUPENG

The leadership of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), at the weekend, condemned the threat by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, to proscribe the union. The union, in a statement signed by its President, Williams Akporeha, said it was not surprised at the recent move by the […]

The leadership of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), at the weekend, condemned the threat by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, to proscribe the union.

The union, in a statement signed by its President, Williams Akporeha, said it was not surprised at the recent move by the minister going by the escalation of his violent reactions and attacks on the organised labour’s not just NUPENG. The union said this was evident since peaceful rallies and picketing of all places of interest to the minister over his failure to inaugurate the Board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) with Comrade (Chief) Ovie Frank Kokori as chairman and the use of armed thugs to attack labour leaders.

“It is shameful that the Minister of Labour had to condescend so low by issuing a directive to NUPENG to produce its only outstanding financial returns for 2018 within 72 hours when the extant law stipulates 30 days, and even when such returns are supposed to be due by June 31, 2019. We have it from good authority that he has further carried all our files right from the inception of our union (1978) to date in a bid to fish out phantom reasons he intends to use in proscribing the union,” it noted. The union wonders why only NUPENG was instructed to submit its financial returns.

“We wish to let the whole world know that Dr. Chris Ngige is nothing but a big bag of lies and we further put on record that Dr. Ngige called to congratulate Chief Kokori personally when the acting President then, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, announced him in 2017 as the Chairman of the Board of NSITF. The minister also invited Kokori to dinner four different times to variously discuss about the inauguration and other things concerning the board, particularly how it has been enmeshed with corruption by successive administrations.

“Besides, the leadership of NUPENG visited the minister in his office in November, 2018, and he informed us that he was still tidying up the agency and that our man (Kokori) would be inaugurated in due course. He even added that Kokori was appointed based on merit as a renowned labour activist and pro-democracy advocate and someone who would not be compromised. Only to later hear in the media that after two years of announcing Kokori as the chairman of the board, his name was substituted with no tenable or justifiable reason(s) and the minister could not even deem it fit to convene a meeting to brief Comrade Kokori and other relevant stakeholders of the new development thereby allowing it to snowball into crisis,” it said.

The union described the minister’s action as “purely a personal vendetta, ruthless in execution, sadistic in expectation and not 21st Century industrial relations practice- compliant.”

“Meanwhile, we hereby put all our members in every oil and gas installation, including petroleum tanker drivers and all other members in the value chain of the industry on HIGH RED ALERT while we watch out for any further infantile and ignoble antics from Ngige.

“We, however, use this medium to call on our amiable President and Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Comrade Muhammadu Buhari, and all other well-meaning Nigerians to please call the erring minister to order before he plunges this country to a monumental industrial crisis,” it warned.