The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) have rejected alleged plans by the Federal Government to divest significant stakes in Joint Venture (JV) oil and gas assets managed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

At a joint press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, leaders of both unions warned that the move could destabilise the economy, weaken NNPCL, and threaten workers’ welfare. They also alleged that the Ministry of Finance was working to amend the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to take control of the company from the Ministry of Petroleum, describing the move as an attempt to hijack the sector.

PENGASSAN President, Comrade Festus Osifo, said government’s plan to sell as much as 30 to 35 percent of its shares in the JV assets was short-sighted.

“Government is wanting to reduce its stake in these assets. Principally, they want to sell some huge percentages—up to 35 percent in some places and 30 percent in others—so that they will have some cash to spend in other areas,” he said.

“But as an association, as PENGASSAN and NUPENG, we say no, no, no to this. You cannot mortgage our future today and tomorrow we will be starving as a country. If we allow this to continue, it has a way of making NNPC become bankrupt in the next few years. There are obligations that must be met, the chief of these obligations is payment of staff salaries and welfare of our members.”

The unions recalled earlier divestments by international oil companies, including ENI’s sale of its Agip operations to Oando and ExxonMobil’s divestment to Seplat, stressing that further sales would reduce government’s shareholding—currently between 55 and 60 percent—and weaken NNPCL’s ability to manage the assets on behalf of the federation.

They also argued that crude oil assets are jointly owned by the federation, not the federal government alone.

“Every crude oil asset in Nigeria, every oil well in Nigeria, is owned by the federation. NNPC Limited is managing these assets on behalf of the federation. So the federation is everybody, collectively,” Osifo said.

The unions raised concerns that proposed amendments to the PIA, which was signed into law in 2021, would strip NNPCL of its independence and place it under regulatory control.

“As a responsible association, we will fight this with everything in us,” the unions said. “If you don’t have ulterior motives, why do you want to move the management of NNPCL to the regulator as a concession? Regulators are supposed to be the police of the industry. It is totally wrong and sends negative signals to investors.”

They urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene. “He should call the Minister of Finance, the Board Chairman of the NNPCL, and the Group Chief Executive Officer to order and let them understand that this is not the direction to go,” they said. “For us, we are sending a strong warning to them that they should cease and desist.”

The unions also linked the alleged divestment and proposed amendments to wider threats to the economy, warning that they could undermine revenue projections and frustrate budget implementation.