The two unions in the nation’s oil sector; the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) have insisted that there can not be a successful deregulation until government increases the capacity of its refineries.
According to them, deregulation can only be considered after the nation’s five refineries have been retuned and made to refine at installed capacities.
Buttressing the unions’ position on the vexed issue, NUPENG President, Comrade Peter Akpatason said deregulating the downstream sector” is akin to “spelling misery to the teeming poor of the country.” According to him, deregulation will encourage mischievous marketers to limit supplies, thus boosting prices and their profits. He added that deregulating at a time when the domestic market is dependent on 80 percent imported supplies is a recipe for civil strife.
Aligning with his NUPENG counterpart, the president of PENGASSAN, Babatunde Ogun also queried the policy. “We vehemently reject import-driven deregulation. We need the free and uninterrupted flow of petroleum products across the country,” he stressed, even as he advised that the government should rather focus on developing more domestic refining capacity and creating jobs for Nigerians.
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