President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assured petroleum workers that Nigeria’s refineries, which have remained largely inactive for several years, will resume operations.
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The president gave the assurance on Thursday when he received the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Responding to concerns raised by the union, Tinubu said the mere presence of flames or smoke at a refinery did not mean it was operating effectively, stressing that the facilities must be profitable and deliver the value for which they were built.
“The refineries that you mentioned are going to come back to work,” he said.
Tinubu said he had accepted responsibility for fixing the country’s assets and liabilities inherited from previous administrations, regardless of what happened in the past.
“I’m not a man who will go there, come back and say everything is fine because I’ve accepted the assets and liabilities of my predecessors.
“No matter what has happened in the years past, it’s my responsibility now as the president to fix it, make it work for the largest common value of our population. I take responsibility for that, and I’m going to do it,” he said.
The president also defended the impact of his administration’s economic policies, saying regular payment of salaries to workers had positive effects on the wider economy.
He said workers at the federal, state and local government levels were benefiting from regular salary payments, which also supported businesses and families.
Tinubu said the government had secured funding for long-term infrastructure projects, citing major road projects including the Lagos-Ibadan, Abuja-Kaduna, Abuja-Kano and Sokoto-Badagry roads.
He also urged NUPENG to ensure that the benefits of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) reached commuters, saying the gains had not spread as quickly as he expected.
Earlier, NUPENG President, Salimon Oladiti, lamented the continued casualisation of workers in the upstream oil and gas sector despite repeated engagements with affected companies.
He said NUPENG and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) had tolerated the practice because of concerns over the economic consequences of industrial action.
“We have engaged the management of some of the affected companies without results. Mr President, we urge you to use your good offices to stop casualisation of workers in our sector,” Oladiti said.
On infrastructure, Oladiti commended the administration’s road rehabilitation programme and efforts to revive the Warri and Port Harcourt refineries through partnerships with Chinese firms.
He urged the government to extend the effort to the country’s decaying petroleum depots, suggesting that they be handed over to private investors under an equity arrangement.
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