The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has demanded safeguards for oil workers whose employers or assets change hands, warning that acquisitions and divestments should not automatically cost employees their jobs, pensions or established rights.
PENGASSAN President Festus Osifo made the demand in Abuja on Wednesday at the fifth PENGASSAN Energy and Labour Summit 2026, where he placed worker security alongside the need to attract capital into Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
Osifo said licences and petroleum assets could be sold or transferred, but employees should not be treated as disposable in the process.
“Licences and assets may change hands, but workers are not commodities to be discarded at will,” he said.
READ RELATED NEWS
PENGASSAN defends industrial action as presidency, protesters rally behind Dangote refinery
Reps moves to resolve PENGASSAN-Dangote refinery dispute amid fuel supply disruptions
NLC mobilises for strike over Dangote Refinery/PENGASSAN face-off
The union president said collective bargaining agreements, pensions and other established benefits should not be eroded when companies restructure or when ownership changes.
He also criticised the misuse of expatriate quotas, saying foreign workers should be employed only where Nigerian workers lacked the required skills.
Where expatriates were employed, Osifo said their appointments should come with measurable knowledge transfer and succession plans to prepare Nigerians for such positions.
Capital and jobs
Osifo connected worker protection with the industry’s investment climate, saying Nigeria needed new capital to support projects, employment and government revenue.
He warned that lengthy approval procedures and unclear regulatory arrangements could frustrate investment decisions and delay projects expected to raise oil and gas production.
The petroleum industry, he said, required substantial capital and investors needed certainty before making long-term commitments.
PENGASSAN identified changes made to the regulatory system after the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, as one source of uncertainty. Some fiscal provisions were transferred from the PIA to the Nigeria Revenue Act, while executive orders were also used to alter aspects of the framework.
Osifo also faulted situations in which operators faced repetitive approvals, multiple inspections and conflicting directives from agencies with overlapping duties.
“Investors need clear rules not alterations. Operators need predictability. Workers need protection. Host communities need confidence, while governments need sustainable revenues,” he said.
He said Nigeria could cut delays by simplifying approval procedures and using technology, without weakening safety, environmental standards or regulatory oversight.
Osifo said delays could affect development plans and final investment decisions, with possible consequences for projects intended to raise oil and gas output.
He told participants that regulations did not need to be weakened for the system to become more efficient.
“Capital is mobile and investors will naturally gravitate towards jurisdictions where there is clarity and efficiency. Our processes must therefore be clear and our systems efficient,” he said.
Industry seeks more projects
The summit took place as the Federal Government works to raise crude oil production, attract capital and expand domestic refining and gas development.
Osifo said the country should not limit its ambition to recovering lost production. He said Nigeria also needed to unlock new reserves and finance more oil and gas projects.
He listed domestic refining, gas processing and infrastructure for liquefied petroleum gas, compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas among areas requiring investment.
“Without investment, there will be no project. Without projects, there will be no sustainable jobs. Without production, there will be no revenue. And without fairness and stability, none of these can endure,” Osifo said.
NNPC Limited’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, said the quality of regulation also depended on the people responsible for applying policies and managing operations.
“A regulatory framework, however well written, is only as strong as the people who apply it every day. So, before we speak of frameworks and policy, we must speak of the people who give them life,” Ojulari said.
He said NNPC Limited was working on its employee value proposition and wanted workers to see the company as a preferred place of employment.
Minister of Labour and Employment Muhammad Dingyadi said stable labour relations were tied to stability in the petroleum industry.
He said regulatory gaps, environmental issues, energy transition and local content development required practical responses from industry stakeholders.
“When workers are empowered, when dialogue replaces discord, and when fairness guides our policies, the entire nation benefits,” Dingyadi said.
For More News Details, Visit the New Daily Prime.
