The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has expressed worry over the activtude of Politicnans in the country saying they were capable of scaring off foreign investors from investing in oil and gas business in Nigeria.
The union’s President, Comrade Igwe Achese, at a news conference in Abuja, warned polticians against creating uncertainty and fears in the sensitive oil and gas sector.
He said the utterances of some people concerning the recent explosion at the Creek near Port Harcourt Refinery were capabe of raising false alarm saying that contrary to the position of the Movement for the Emancipation ofthe Niger Delta (MEND) that it was responsible for the pipeline explosion, it was actually casued by vandals who attempted to steal oil.
He remainded polticians that most of the investors in the oil and gas sector were trying to pull out because of the current insecurity issues.
“Contrary to the MEND claim, the explosion that rocked the Port Harcourt Refinery in Alesa-Eleme and the nearby Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) Evacuation/Receiption Jetty in Okrika Rivers State on Sunday, was casued by the unscrupulous activities of oil theieves”, he said.
He stated that it was not the issue of somebody claiming what he does not know and advised that, “We must stop this issue of facelsss groups or faceless individuals who want to be claimng MEND or using the Political environment to claim to be MEND”.
He maintained that polticians should refrain from creating unnecessary tension in our environment but to cintinue to ensure that the economy grows.
He insisted that the inferno was casued by criminals who were trying to scoop produts from a pipeline that was connected from the NNPC close to the water shores in the mangrove area.