PETROLEUM and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, yesterday, in Lagos vowed to shut down the nation’s oil industry should the Federal Government go ahead with planned sale of its four refineries.

PENGASSAN argued that instead of outright sale, the Federal Government should adopt the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, model with the National Oil Company,  NOC, as owners of the four
refineries holding a substantial minority share, while core investors/local participation hold the working majority with the staff, trade unions, and the host communities hold minority shares.

President of PENGASSAN, Babatunde Ogun claimed government advertently underfunded the refineries and deliberately refused to carry out Turn Around Maintenance, TAM, and supply crude to the refineries so as to have reasons for selling them to their cronies.

Since the government’s planned sale of the refineries was made public, Nigeria National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers,  has also threatened similar action should the refineries be sold.

According to him:  “Why is the government proposing sales of these national edifices without doing the needful to ensure that the refineries work at their optimal capacity?

“Nigerians and the general public deserve to know more on the desperate reasons for the spate and row of proposed privatisation, even when the selfish motives of these proposed national assets sales can spell doom for the country.”