Group slams PENGASSAN over plight of Nigerians at IOC

From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa

A civil society group, the Movement of Intellectuals for National Development (MIND), has slammed the national leadership of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) for what it called an evasive response to the petition submitted to the Nigerian Senate, calling for a probe of unfair labour practices and the maltreatment of Nigerians at TotalEnergies.

PENGASSAN’s acting General Secretary, Jerry Aman, had, in a statement distanced the union from MIND’s petition to the Senate.

However, MIND Western Coordinator, Ebi Warekromo, in a statement, expressed disappointment with PENGASSAN’s response, adding that it was evasive and fundamentally inconsistent with the core responsibilities of a labour union that claims to exist for the protection and welfare of its members.

According to him, the petition submitted to the Senate was not based on conjecture or hearsay, but grounded in verifiable facts, lived experiences of affected Nigerian workers, and written correspondence authored by the local branch of PENGASSAN itself. He stated that the concerns raised include hostile work environment, allegations of bullying and intimidation by expatriate staff, serious security breaches, and blatant local content violations, particularly the illegal perpetuation of expatriate positions beyond approved tenures, in clear contravention of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.

Warekromo stated that unfair labour practices against Nigerian staff cease to be internal affairs once they remain unresolved and continue to harm Nigerian workers.

While querying the independence of PENGASSAN, he urged the national leadership to remain truthful to its oath to protect its members.

The statement read in part: “MIND wishes to state clearly that our intervention is not an attack on PENGASSAN as an institution. It is a response to a vacuum of effective representation that has allowed oppressive practices to persist unchecked.

“Where unions fail or refuse to act decisively, civil society has both the right and the duty to step in.”