Don’t resume hostilities, PENGASSAN pleads with Niger Delta militants…as NNPC allays fear on Fuel Scarcity

Abiodun Oba |

Stakeholders in the oil and gas sector have been called upon to meet and deliberate with a view to meeting the demands of the Niger Delta region.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria made the clarion call while pleading with Niger Delta militants to shelve the idea of resuming hostilities over the inability of international oil companies to relocate their headquarters to the oil-rich region.

The union’s call is coming on the heels of the threat by the Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators, a frontline militant group in the region, that IOCs should stay away from oil platforms and other installations from December 2018 should they fail to relocate their headquarters to the Niger Delta.

The militants had also vowed to resume hostilities with attacks on oil facilities over the refusal of President Buhari to give assent to the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill.

However, speaking on Thursday during the ground-breaking of PENGASSAN’s multipurpose event and resource centre in Obio/Akpor LGA, the union’s National President, Francis Johnson, urged the Federal Government to address the issues raised by the agitators.

“All IOCs operating in this country have an office here (Niger Delta), but relocating their corporate headquarters also depends on the collaboration of the government because definitely, they need land, they need resources and they need some waivers to do that.

“So, everybody must work together, but not by threat. For the agitators, we want to appeal to them that they should not return to the creeks. For now, oil is our only major source of revenue.

“We also need to appeal to the government that whatever is the demand of the region; whatever they can do to make the place conducive and ensure that the relocation is a reality, they should please do,” Johnson quipped.

Meanwhile, The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has assured that there is enough fuel in the country and that there is no need for panic buying of petroleum products by motorists and the public.

The corporation disclosed this in a statement issued by Mr Ndu Ughamadu, its spokesman, in Abuja, on Friday.

This, followed reports of an ultimatum issued by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) over a purported intervention by an arm of the security agencies in what the union viewed as purely labour matters involving a company and its workers in Delta State.

He added that the corporation’s Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru and his Management team were engaging the parties involved, saying the parties are close to resolving the issues.

Ughamadu in the statement advised motorists and other consumers of petroleum products not to engage in panic buying as the NNPC Management was close to reaching an amicable resolution of the challenge.

NNPC assured that the corporation had adequate storage of petroleum products across the country and advised that they should not entertain any fear of petroleum shortages.