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FG, Labour Meet Over Oil Workers Strike
The Federal Government yesterday met with leaders of striking oil workers and other stakeholders in the petroleum sector in a desperate effort to end the industrial action before it worsens the fuel supply chain and other socio-economic situations.
Already, the workers, on the umbrella of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG and its Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN’s counterpart, operating as NUPENGASSAN, have not only stopped loading of products, major installations in both upstream and downstream have also, been shut.
The Federal Government through the Federal Ministries of Labour and Productivity as well as Petroleum Resources, slated the meeting for 11am in Abuja.
However situations reports across the country yesterday indicated high level of compliance by workers on the first day of the strike.
In Lagos, most depots were shut. At Ejigbo Depot, some tankers that loaded earlier in the day were restricted, but later allowed to move out of the depot because of the inherent danger.
At Apapa, installations owned by Mobil and Oando were said to have recorded total compliance. Though there was skeletal work by NUPENG members at Total depot, but it was later stopped in the course of the day.
While in Warri, there was no loading, while NUPENG members were seen wearing red as a sign of protest, in Port Harcourt, a strike monitoring committee member told Vanguard on condition of anonymity, that there was total compliance in all oil and gas locations, as the loading bays were shut.
Similarly, in Kaduna and Abuja, there was also total compliance on the part of PENGASSAN members.
In Kaduna, the gate of the Kaduna Refinery was shut and no entrance was allowed into the premises.
A union leader claimed that in the morning, the NNPC towers was opened for business and workers were at their desks but were later called to stop work at about 11.45 a.m.
The workers are protesting among others, the inability of the government to carry out Turn Around Maintenance, TAM, on the refineries and reduce pump prices of petroleum products in line with the slump in global prices of crude oil.
Other grievances are delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, global crude oil prices slump, non -implementation of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Content Development, NOGICD, Act to reflect Nigerian’s in management positions and expatriate quota law, appalling state of access roads to refineries and oil depots’ facilities, insecurity in the country that has led to the death of members, appointments in government agencies in disregards to succession planning, compulsory deduction from workers’ salaries for the National Housing Fund, NHF, casualisation and contract staffing and unfair labour practice by companies and government agencies.
They also include termination of appointment of the Port Harcourt Zonal Secretary of the Association by Total Exploration and Production, Total E&P, Nigeria Limited, retardation of staff promotion in the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF, non-standardisation of nomenclature and collective bargaining agreement of the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Agency, NNRA, in line with what is obtained in other agencies in the oil and gas industry, refusal of the management of Addax/Petrostuff Nigeria Limited and Chevron/Sudelletra to recall sacked staff.
Meanwhile, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, in Lagos advised the Federal Government to address the grievances of the oil workers immediately and save Nigerians from another round of fuel scarcity among other implications of the strike.
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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