The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) on Monday identified lack of accountability and ownership as part of the reasons why the nation’s refineries have not worked.

Mr Babatunde Ogun, the PENGASSAN President, told newsmen in Lagos that the refineries could function effectively without undue pressure.

He called for the early passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) now in the National Assembly to ensure that interests of oil workers were protected.

“The content of the bill must be made open for people to contribute and understand the discussions on it because people are worried on the movement from Joint Venture (JV) to Integrated Joint Venture (IJV).

“It is also good to tell the people the worth of NNPC before unbundling it. Nobody knows the worth of NNPC; nobody knows the liability of those organisations.

“Nobody knows the current worth of those refineries. Nobody knows what is required to transfer those refineries or upgrade them to the new standards,” Ogun said.

The PENGASSAN chief said it was pertinent to know the problems and the net worth of the organisation before the take off of the IJV.

Ogun said with this, the new management would be accountable to both the people and the Federal Government.

He said the pensions and gratuities of NNPC workers should be settled before the integrated joint venture takes over so that new investors would not be burdened with many encumbrances.

“It is regrettable that experts in Nigeria are replaced by less competent foreigners because of poor understudy,’’ Ogun said.

He said PENGASSAN was not averse to deregulation, saying that it only opposed the people who siphoned the money accruing from the subsidy without adding value to the nation’s economy.

Ogun said though no time was fixed for the deregulation of the sector, government should ensure that necessary infrastructural facilities were put in place before its implementation.