The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has joined workers of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in the protest against the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital.
The staff of the NUPRC, who had staged a nationwide protest last week, picketed and barricaded offices of the Commission, demanding the immediate sack of the Chief Executive, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, over alleged fraud and abuse of office.
According to the protesters, the NUPRC boss was accused of deliberately refusing to open channels of communication to address concerns about mismanagement of the commission and poor employees’ welfare throughout the two years of being in office.
The protesters, therefore, called on President Bola Tinubu to sack Komolafe or offer him an order of resignation, a step which they said would pave way for an urgent forensic audit of all contract processes and payments by the Commission under his watch.
Meanwhile, the staff of NUPRC in Port Harcourt were seen carrying banners and placards bearing different slogans such as, “Engr. Gbenga Komolafe must go”, “Allow NUPRC staff to breathe”, while picketing entrance to NUPRC office since Monday.
Speaking to newsmen in Port Harcourt, at the Weekend, the National Industrial Relation Officer, PENGASSAN, Dr. Ifeanyi Eze, who joined the protesters, stressed the need for urgent measures to address the issues affecting NUPRC staff, insisting that the protest would continue until their demands were met.
Eze outlined their grievances to include, non-payment of pension deductions, cooperative deductions, medical retainer-ships, non-payment of cleaners and drivers for over seven months, insufficient work tools, staff’s medical outstanding payments, non-payment of outsourced personnel, and others.
He said, “in the NUPRC office in Port Harcourt, they do not have electricity for the past two months. Then in the NUPRC Lagos office, there is no water supply and in the Abuja office, the lifts are not working.
“Beyond this, other things have been happening as a non-refund of medical bills agreed in workers’ collective bargain agreements. Pensions are deducted and not remitted, so there are myriads of inefficiency and deficiencies going on.
“You know NUPRC which was formerly DPR, is a regulator in the oil and gas industry. If the Commission, which is the regulator, cannot fix itself, then what will happen to the companies they are regulating?
“So, we are saying that there are a lot of people in this country that can adequately do the job, Komolafe should not be there. That is our stand. That is the stand of the branch, the Zone, and the National.
“I know that there has been a request for engagement in Abuja at different levels, but until we get something concrete or until all our demands are met, we are not going to back down.
“If they push us to the wall, we may be forced to escalate this peaceful demonstration, as you know, we are in charge of the locations where Nigeria’s crude is being lifted, and without our efforts, crude cannot be lifted and that is why we are pained that we do a very sensitive job, and we are being toyed with”.

By: Lady Godknows Ogbulu