Nigeria’s powerful oil unions have come out forcefully against government plans to sell down stakes in joint venture oil assets, warning that the move could destabilise the economy and cripple the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
At a joint press conference in Abuja, leaders of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) rejected proposals to cut government holdings in joint ventures by up to 35%. Currently, the federal government controls between 55% and 60% of these assets through NNPCL.
Union chiefs Festus Osifo and Williams Akporeha argued the plan amounted to mortgaging the nation’s economic future for quick cash. “Every oil well belongs to Nigerians collectively, not just the government,” Osifo said. “If these stakes are sold, the federation loses, and the national oil company will be too weak to deliver.”
The dispute follows President Bola Tinubu’s order last month to reassess key deductions under the Petroleum Industry Act, as part of a wider drive to tighten fiscal discipline. But the unions warned that tampering with the hard-won reform law just three years after its passage would spook investors and undermine policy stability.
Osifo said further divestment would “bankrupt” NNPCL, eroding its ability to pay salaries, fund welfare packages and contribute to the national budget. He pointed to earlier sell-offs by international oil companies, which saw multinationals such as Shell and ExxonMobil transfer assets to local firms including Seplat and Oando.
Akporeha added that attempts by the finance ministry to sideline the petroleum ministry from NNPC’s ownership amounted to a “backdoor hijack” of the company. “Every serious oil-producing nation protects its national oil company. Here, we are doing the opposite,” he said.
While the unions stopped short of calling a strike, they warned they would “fight with everything” to block the plan. “Whoever mooted this idea, whether from the finance ministry, the petroleum ministry, NNPCL or the presidency, we reject it 100%,” Osifo said.
The intervention adds to growing tension around Tinubu’s reform agenda, which seeks to shore up revenues amid fiscal strain. For organised labour, however, selling down NNPCL’s assets would weaken the backbone of Nigeria’s economy and betray the national interest.
