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PENGASSAN Calls For Salary Benchmark For Oil Workers

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria has called for a salary benchmark for oil and gas workers in the country.
The National President of the union, Mr. Festus Osifo, made this call at the second edition of the PENGASSAN Energy and Labour Submit in Abuja, on Monday.
The three-day event was titled, ‘Petroleum Downstream Deregulation and Gas Utilisation, for a Sustainable Energy Future in Nigeria.’’
Osifo said that the call was imperative due to the recent policy direction by the Federal Government.
He said the policy by the government included the PMS subsidy removal and the floating of the naira-dollar exchange rate.
He said, “Part of the decisions of floatation has only benefited the government and the oil and gas companies in Nigeria.
“This has necessitated a call for salary benchmark for oil and gas workers, aligning with the instrument of trade of oil and gas commodity.’’
He, however, said that in Angola, legislation pegged workers’ salaries in dollars and paid them the legal tender equivalent.
Usifo said the Angola template was a testament to the possibilities of safeguarding the interests of workers amidst currency fluctuations.
He added that the floating of the naira in the official market had exacerbated the challenges faced by our workers.
“We must explore innovative solutions to restore financial losses to workers by preventing undue gains to oil companies and ensuring a fair and equitable environment for all.
“PENGASSAN will do all it can to push for this just and equitable distribution across its branches,’’ the president stated.
Osifo, while speaking on the theme, said it was carefully chosen due to the multifaceted challenges and opportunities inherent in the energy sector.
“Over the next three days, we will engage in enlightening discussions, share insights, and formulate strategies to address critical issues such as divestment, PMS subsidy removal and the place/role of the ever-ready Nigeria workers in the oil and gas industry and it commitment value chain.
“We are witnessing a significant shift in our landscape of the energy in the country, marked by the divestment action of companies such as Mobile Producing Nigeria, Nigeria Agip Company, SPDC, and others,’’ he said.
On his part, Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Corporation Limited, Mr. Mele Kyari, said that despite challenges, the country was already witnessing some positive outcomes of the subsidy removal.
Kyari said that most construction companies had started moving back to sites as more resources became available to execute projects.
According to him, by 2024, Nigeria will become a net exporter of refined petroleum products based on ongoing policy interventions by the present administration.
Kyari stated, “The meaning of this is that we will have sufficient volumes in-country,
“When we refine locally, we do have advantages.
“That is by creating wealth, creating taxes, and all forms of value chain, creating employment, and so on and so forth.’’
He added that what Nigeria needed was to adjust its realities as it imported 100 per cent of its production.
“No resource-dependent country does this and that is why we must deliver on our mandate,” he said.
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
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RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
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Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
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