Union backs majority private ownership to end political interference, boost efficiency and protect energy security…
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria has renewed its long-standing call for the Federal Government to divest majority shares in Nigeria’s state-owned refineries, recommending that authorities adopt the ownership structure used by the Nigeria LNG Limited.
Under the proposal, the government would retain a minority stake while selling at least 51 per cent equity to core investors with proven refining expertise.
The National President of PENGASSAN and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, Festus Osifo, made the recommendation on Sunday while appearing on Politics Today on Channels Television.
Osifo said the union has consistently advocated partial privatisation for more than two decades, arguing that full government ownership has stifled operational efficiency and undermined commercial viability.
“We have always advocated in PENGASSAN in the last 20 years that the government should bring about the NLNG model in the refinery,” he said. “The government should take a minority stake and sell the majority stake, at least 51 per cent to investors.”
He stressed that such investors must be established refiners rather than passive shareholders or politically connected interests.
“These investors should be refiners. They shouldn’t just be portfolio investors or politicians or friends of the political class,” Osifo added.
Pointing to the ownership structure of NLNG as a working template, he noted that a consortium of international energy companies including ENI, TotalEnergies and Shell, collectively holds 51 per cent in the gas company, while the Federal Government retains the balance.
According to the union, replicating this model in the refining segment would depoliticise management decisions, attract fresh capital injection and drive profitability.
“So when they are making decisions, their decisions are not subjected to any political whims and caprices,” Osifo said. “Businessmen will make business decisions that will impact and help them make a profit. That has been our position.”
While backing the current reform direction of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Osifo cautioned against a total sell-off, insisting that government must retain a minority interest to safeguard national energy security.
“Thank God that is the direction this new NNPC management has said they are driving to bring in investors and divest. But they should not sell it 100 per cent. The reason is because of energy security,” he said.
The renewed push comes amid heightened debate over the future of Nigeria’s long-troubled state refineries and broader restructuring efforts in the oil and gas sector following the commercialisation of NNPCL.
It also follows recent remarks by NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, who during a landmark visit to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery Africa’s largest single-train refinery, described the facility as a testament to “technological audacity and national pride.”
Ojulari toured the 650,000-barrels-per-day plant alongside members of the NNPC board and executive management team in what marked the first official visit by the state oil company’s top leadership. NNPCL currently holds a seven per cent equity stake in the privately owned refinery.
PENGASSAN’s latest position signals organised labour’s conditional support for majority private participation in Nigeria’s refining sector provided the structure balances commercial efficiency with strategic national interests.
