PENGASSAN tasks new ministers on infrastructural devt

Newly appointed federal ministers have been urged to work assiduously to address the pressing issues of insecurity, high electricity tariffs, dilapidated infrastructure, unemployment, non-payment of salaries and naira devaluation. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) set this agenda for the new ministers at the end of its National Executive Council […]

Newly appointed federal ministers have been urged to work assiduously to address the pressing issues of insecurity, high electricity tariffs, dilapidated infrastructure, unemployment, non-payment of salaries and naira devaluation.
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) set this agenda for the new ministers at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) held Friday in Abuja.
The union lamented the state of the nation, especially in the oil and gas industry, mentioning Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), crude oil theft, job insecurity, and expatriate quota as areas of focus for the ministers.
President of PENGASSAN, Comrade Francis Olabode Johnson called on the government to be practical towards the implementation of the Guidelines on Contract and Casual Staffing in the Oil and Gas Industry so as to ensure that managements treat all employees equally irrespective of whether they are casual, contract or permanent staff.
He bemoans the level of decay in infrastructural facilities, particularly the poor state of roads in the country while calling on governments at all levels to embark on urgent repair of roads in their domain to curb the incessant accidents on the roads.
Comrade Johnson, who said the union, aligns with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) agenda of using employment to create wealth, called on the government to put in place sustainable plans to create wealth and jobs.
The PENGASSAN president stressed the need to review the methods of granting  expatriate work permit to make it more transparent and its compliance monitored.
He said, “Any expert coming to Nigeria must add value and be ready to respect the understudy clause as well as train Nigerians. We are advocating for the establishment of a special stakeholders’ committee comprising of the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board  (NCDMB), Department of Petroleum  Resources (DPR), the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Labour and Employment and the unions to recommend and approve expatriates permit to check expatriate quota abuse. We are also calling on the government to exert appropriate sanction against any defaulting employer.”