The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria have stated that there is need for the federal government to fix refineries before deregulation in the petroleum sector.
The union’s General Secretary, Afolabi Olawale, said this in a telephone interview with our correspondent.
According to him, the union had always stated that the government should fix the refineries and keep it running efficiently before deregulation.
“The position of the union has always been that deregulation should be on local production. By this we are saying that the refineries should be working before government can deregulate.
“Any deregulation that is based on importation of oil, as we have at the moment, will have negative impact on the economy. Global oil crash will always affect our economy under this circumstance.”
Furthermore, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, described the removal of the subsidy on petroleum products as a right step in a right direction, but lamented over its weak sustainable growth.
The National Public Relations Officer of the union, Mr Fortune Obi, also noted that the removal of the subsidy could only be sustainable if the country’s refineries were in good working state.
