The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has joined labour unions in the oil and gas sector to caution the federal government against planned divestment from joint venture operations in the upstream sector and the sale of national equity stakes.
National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, stated the position of the opposition party on the sale of assets in the oil industry at a news conference in Abuja on Wednesday.
Tribune Online checks revealed that the leadership of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) and its counterpart, the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) had last month expressed strong reservations about the Federal Government’s move to sell assets in oil industry and divest significant stakes in joint venture assets managed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
They rejected the proposal to cut government stakes in JV assets by as much as 30-35 per cent, as against the Federal Government’s current equity stakes between 55 and 60 per cent of such assets through NNPCL.
Further checks revealed that the fear by the labour unions was on the heels of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s last August directive to his economic team for a reassessment of the NNPC’s 30 per cent management fee and 30 per cent frontier exploration deduction under the Petroleum Industry Act.
Tinubu, in charging the Economic Management Team led by Finance Minister Wale Edun, stressed the need to optimise government savings, streamline deductions from the Federation Account, and enhance fiscal discipline in a time of global financial strain.
Aligning with the labour unions’ fears over long-term economic security and fear that the sale of such equity in Nigerian joint venture operations with International Oil Companies (IOCs) to private individuals could impair Nigeria’s ability to meet obligations such as salaries and welfare packages, the ADC urged the present administration to perish the thought of divestment.
Abdullahi said, ‘On September 22, the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) sent a joint letter to President Tinubu, unequivocally rejecting the proposed amendments to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), and the planned sale of NNPC Limited’s equity in high-performing joint ventures.
‘The African Democratic Congress (ADC) fully aligns itself with the position of the unions on both the proposed amendments and the sell-offs. We also believe that if allowed to proceed, the planned actions of this administration would not only undermine Nigeria’s energy sovereignty, but it would also amount to a brazen transfer of public assets into private hands in a manner never experienced in the history of our country.
‘We have carefully examined the proposed amendments to the PIA, and we are convinced that these actions formed part of a deliberate and calculated effort to hollow out NNPC Limited, dismantle institutional checks and balances, and pave the way for the fire-sale of Nigeria’s most valuable national assets to private, politically-connected interests at the expense of 200 million Nigerians. They represent not reform, but regression and they must be rejected.
‘There is also the grave issue of energy security. By handing over decisive control of these assets to private interests, the government weakens Nigeria’s ability to stabilise energy supply, respond to global oil shocks, or plan long-term energy strategies in the national interest.
‘If we sell off our oil assets, we are not just parting with numbers on a balance sheet; we are surrendering the lifeblood of our economy and the backbone of our national sovereignty. It would mean that Nigeria, a country that once stood as a giant of energy in Africa, would wake up tomorrow without control over its own resources.
‘It would mean that the revenues which fund our schools, hospitals, roads, and pensions will flow into private pockets while our treasury runs dry. It would mean NNPC Limited, stripped of its most profitable holdings, will stagger under debt and obligations it can no longer meet, risking collapse and the loss of thousands of jobs.
‘It would mean that our energy security, our ability to stabilise fuel supply, protect against global shocks, and plan for the future will be handed to a few private entities whose only loyalty is to profit, not to the Nigerian people. Most dangerously of all, it would set an irreversible precedent, turning our common wealth into private property, and leaving future generations of Nigerians with nothing but memories of what was once theirs.’
The ADC called on Nigerians not to show indifference to the proposed divestment of equity stakes in Joint Venture operations with the IOCs, but to collaborate with the labour unions to prevent the move, which it maintained would be inimical to the survival of the average Nigerian.
‘Fellow Nigerians, what lies before us is not merely a matter of policy or legislative adjustment; it is a battle for the very soul of our nation’s economy. At stake is the kind of Nigeria we are building, and more importantly, for whom we are building it.
‘We, therefore, call on all segments of our society to rise to this critical occasion. Civil society organisations must stand firm and resist this unfolding plunder of our national resources. The National Assembly, both current members and those who have served before, must reject any attempt to amend the Petroleum Industry Act in ways that serve private or political interests over the public good.
‘Labour unions, particularly those in the vital oil and gas sector, must act decisively to protect our national sovereignty and strategic assets. And to the young people of Nigeria – those who will bear the long-term consequences of today’s decisions, we urge you to organise, speak out, and demand full transparency and accountability.
‘At 65, Nigeria must not stand for power, profit, or politics. Nigeria must stand for the people.
‘The African Democratic Congress reaffirms its commitment to protecting Nigeria’s commonwealth, resisting corruption in all its forms, and defending the economic rights of future generations.
‘Let this be our legacy that when it mattered most, we stood up, spoke out, and said no to the selling of Nigeria,’ the ADC stated.