Create Conducive Atmosphere For Oil, Gas Investors, TUC Charges FG

As part of efforts to promote growth and development in oil and gas industry that would promote more competitiveness, the president of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Festus Osifo has charged federal government to create better conducive atmosphere in oil and gas industry to attract more investors.

Just as the union charged federal government to create more friendlier environment to enable workers in oil and gas sector to have sustainable job security through welfare for them.

Osifo who made this suggestion during his meeting with Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN) in Lagos yesterday said

I think that price capping will come will greater challenges. If we focus on the price capping , we are going to drive away investors. For now, what government should focus on is how to ensure healthy competition among the players.

“When we have competition, its naturally bring down price .What the regulator should do is to go and source for more investors.

Osifo, the immediate past President of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria
(PENGASSAN) based his argument on the need to win more investors into the industry through sourcing for people to build the refineries, both modular and the bigger refineries. So that they can compete, most especially in the international price.

“Achieving sustainable, fair energy pricing requires deep upstream and midstream reforms rather than blanket price caps that distort market,” Osifo said.

According to him, as PENGASSAN President in the last six years, he has been able to successfully protected the jobs of its members during the divestments by international oil companies (IOCs).

He said no member lost their job as a direct consequence of the transfer of oil and gas assets to new investors.

He stated that the union had not only protected workers from job losses arising from the ownership changes but also ensured that their remuneration was maintained and improved.

He said the development represented one of the major achievements of the leadership of the union, particularly against the background of the significant restructuring taking place in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

According to Osifo, the divestment wave involving major international operators had created concerns over the fate of workers as assets changed ownership and new investors took control of operations.

He, however, said PENGASSAN deliberately engaged the outgoing and incoming operators to ensure that workers were not treated as casualties of the industry’s restructuring.

He described job protection and improved remuneration as two of the key measures by which the performance of the union’s current leadership should be assessed

He said his leadership had deliberately sought to remain close to members at the branch level, particularly during negotiations over Collective Bargaining Agreement agreements(CBA).

Osifo said, “Because of each of their Collective Bargaining Agreements, if the people don’t see me there with them, they will see the zonal chairman there with them. So, they saw that leadership where we worked with them closely.