PENGASSAN Tasks Firm On Due Process

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSN), has appealed to the Federal Government to ensure that the Management of Petrobras Nigerian Limited follow due process and rule of law in its divestment process.

Petrobras, an oil company owned by the National Oil Corporation of Brazil recently locked out its Nigerian workers.

In a press release by PENGASSAN made available to The Tide, the General Secretary of the union, Mr Bayo Olowoshile, stressed the need for the company management to dialogue with its workers or risk industrial action.

The news statement decried the action of locking out Nigerian workers under the excuse of furthering the divestment of its stake in some Nigerian oil blocks valued at N795 billion.

The union stated that the company and its management in Nigeria must respect due process and rule of law and “ensure that PENGASSAN is adequately engaged in accordance with the provisions of our extant national and labour laws”.

PENGASSAN said the company must enforce industry best practice before finalising its planned divestment.

The statement also said that the union had made several abortive efforts to dialogue with the management of the company, adding that dialogue remained the only way out to avoid industrial crisis.