Aborisade, Labour leader fault commercialisation of NNPC

An Ibadan-based Labour activist and human rights lawyer, Femi Aborisade and the immediate past Chairman of Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Oyo State, Andrew Emelieze, have faulted the commercialisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

This was contained in separate statements in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

Aborisade said the transition from NNPC to NNPC Limited would enrich a few private individuals, while the masses would be impoverished.

Also, Emelieze said: “ Commercialising the NNPC is undemocratic. It will not be tolerated by Nigerians. That was not what President Buhari promised Nigerians. What the government is doing is a fraud. The government is trying to sell Nigeria. The government is pursuing an ideological programme imposed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)”.

Meanwhile, Aborisade argued: “Section 54(3) of the Petroleum Industry Act provides that with the birth of NNPC Limited, the NNPC ceases to exist as an entity to serve any form of the public good. Section 53(7) puts this more pungently that the emergence of NNPC Limited signifies a complete paradigm shift in the orientation of the NNPC, from an entity for the public good, to an outright business entity, as follows:

‘NNPC Limited and any of its subsidiaries shall conduct their affairs on a commercial basis in a profitable and efficient manner without recourse to Government funds … and NNPC Ltd shall operate as a Companies and Allied Matters Act entity, declare dividends to its shareholders and retain 20 per cent of profits as retained earnings to grow its business…’’

“NNPC Limited is, therefore, an instrument to facilitate the privatisation of the assets of the old NNPC, a tool to rob or steal the wealth that belongs to all and hand it over to the private sector, ‘legitimately’. It is an instrument that robs the public of common patrimony.

“The Board of NNPC Limited is to be dominated by private individuals appointed by the President, without any consideration for elected representatives of communities in the oil-producing areas and organized labour. Yet, the Board of the NNPC Limited performs enormous sensitive responsibilities such as being the concessionaire of all Production Sharing Contracts (PSC), Profit Sharing and Risk Service Contracts on behalf of the Federal Government; being vested with the rights to natural gas under production sharing contracts; lifting and selling of royalty oil and tax oil and so on.

“In summary, the transition from NNPC to NNPC Limited would serve the purpose of enriching a few private individuals while impoverishing the masses of Nigeria.