NNPC Shut Down Nationwide As Workers Begin Strike

Employees of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, have embarked on an indefinite strike following the unbundling of the corporation by the Federal Government on Tuesday.

Yesterday, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, announced that the government has unbundled NNPC into seven units namely downstream, refineries, gas and power, finance and accounts, ventures, corporate planning and services.

And on Wednesday morning, when some workers and management of NNPC arrived their various offices, they found out that the gates have been locked.

On Tuesday night, at about 10pm, the group executive committee of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG; and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, held an emergency meeting to discuss the FG’s decision.

At the meeting, the two unions kicked against the government’s move, describing it as a total disregard of due process, arguing that “stakeholders” were not fully engaged in the process.

They then directed that “from midnight today (March 9, 2016), all NNPC locations will be shut down completely until further notice.”