Business
NUPENG Makes Case For More Refineries
President of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Mr. Igwe Achese, has reiterated the need for government to build more refineries to meet the demand of Nigerians for petroleum products.
The NUPENG chief said that it would be counter-productive for the economy if the Federal Government deregulated the sector without refurbishing existing refineries and building new ones.
Achese, who spoke at an interactive forum with oil workers and journalists in Lagos on recently, said that government should provide the necessary infrastructure before it deregulates the oil industry.
“We have always said it, we are not against deregulation, but we insist that refineries must function optimally, there must be constant electricity, effective rail system and good roads. It is only when the infrastructure is in place will deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry be economically reasonable,” he said.
The unionist said it was unpleasant to continue to operate an oil-import driven economy when the country was blessed with abundance of it. He said if the government totally deregulated the economy without putting certain infrastructure in place, the people and the nation would suffer.
On the casualisation of workers, Achese said the problem was still very prevalent in the oil and gas sector. “Nigeria’s labour law is clear about the place of casual workers in any sector of its economy. The law says that if the job of a staff is more than six months, the person should be made a permanent staff. Unfortunately, this does not obtain in many oil companies,” he said.
Achese said that the trend in some of the oil companies was to renew the contract of casual workers every six months so that they remain permanently in that category.
He said NUPENG was poised to tackle the problem and work towards getting permanent staff status for its members.
Credit to Nigeria’s private sector rose to N83.26 trillion in June 2026 from N81.04 trillion in May, signifying a positive balance of N2.22 trillion month-on-month.
Year-on-year, the figure represents a nine per cent increase compared with the N76.13 trillion recorded in June 2025. The latest figures come as the CBN continues to balance efforts to control inflation with the need to support economic growth and expand credit to businesses.
The CBN data shows that credit to Nigeria’s private sector increased by approximately 2.74 per cent month-on-month between May and June 2026. Also, the CBN data noted that credit to the government fell slightly to N40.03 trillion from N40.38 trillion. Other assets, net, dropped to N10.76 trillion from N12.63 trillion.
The credit surge signifies sustained growth in lending to businesses and other private-sector borrowers during the month. The rise in private sector credit was recorded alongside an increase in net domestic credit, despite declines in credit to government and other assets.
Further analysis of the report says that compared with June 2025, private sector credit rose by about N7.13 trillion yea-on-year but net domestic credit increased by approximately N1.87 trillion during the month.
The CBN’s relatively tight monetary policy stance notwithstanding, more banks still loaded funds to the private sector within the period. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) held its 306th meeting on July 20 and 21.
The Committee reviewed recent developments in the global and domestic economies, assessed emerging risks to the outlook and considered their implications for monetary policy and retained all rates.
The Committee decided to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5 per cent; the Standing Facilities Corridor around the MPR at +50/-450 basis points and retain the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks at 45.00 per cent, Merchant Banks at 16.00 per cent, and non-TSA public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent.
The MPC decision means that credit extension in the private sector will likely continue to rise because of rising confidence in the sector and calls by stakeholders for banks to invest in the private scetor instead of government securities.
