Oil workers protest planned sale of refineries

Oil workers yesterday, in Eleme, Rivers State, protested Federal
Government's planned sale of the four public refineries, threatening
to declare a nationwide strike should government go ahead with the
planned sale.
Under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers,
NUPENG, and their Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association
of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, the oil workers said government should rather
carry out a comprehensive turn around maintenance on the refineries
for optimal performance.
They vowed to continue to oppose the planned sale because it was
anti-Nigeria and anti-people.
Earlier, NUPENG, at its National Executive Council, NEC, meeting in
Okrika, where it vowed to resist the planned sale of the refineries,
insisted that the oil workers would not hesitate to shut down the
sector if reason failed to prevail on the government.
President of the union, Achese Igwe, told newsmen that he was shocked
that Nigeria, as the 6th largest oil producing country, would
contemplate selling off its refineries, arguing that they would
declare a national strike against the move.
He urged the Federal Government to take steps towards making the
refineries function optimally, adding that the government should
address the issue of casualisation in some of the multinational oil
firms.