IPPIS: PENGASSAN Threatens Oil, Gas Operations Over Salary Seizure

Protesting oil workers under the aegies of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria have renewed their threat to disrupt oil and gas operations across the country over alleged Federal Government’s posture to enforce the IPPIS policy on them.

According to them, the disruption of oil and gas operations across the nation would commence should the Federal Government fail to pay their salaries by Friday (today).

The protesting senior oil workers in Delta State gathered at the Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun, on Thursday in continuation of their three-day peaceful warning strike which commenced on Wednesday.

Clad in red attires, the protesters displayed placards with inscriptions such as ‘PENGASSAN says no to IPPIS; We say no to salary reduction using IPPIS and We are not against IPPIS but create another platform that addresses our peculiarities’, among others.

Addressing the protesters, the Branch Chairman of PENGASSAN, PTI, Zarakiya Muhammad, warned that if their salaries were not released by Friday (today), the Federal Government should be ready to contend with total shut down of operations in the industry.

Muhammad, who was in company with the Secretary of Regulators Forum, Audi Oshiokhamele, and the chairman of PTI branch of NUPENG, Mr Ejokirhie Jahpurpose, expressed surprise that the Federal Ministry of Finance failed to pay their August and September salaries while negotiations were still ongoing.

The PENGASSAN chairman said that aside the seizure of their two-month salaries, the strike was also informed by the clumsy manner in which members were enrolled on the IPPIS.

He said though the union supported all government’s effort to achieve transparency and accountability in government, it should not be to the detriment of the oil workers.

He vowed that the industrial action would continue until their grievances were addressed.

In his speech, Oshiokhamele urged relevant government officials to address their issues as a matter of priority.

He listed their grievances to include ‘bastardisation of our salaries by IPPIS and non-release of personnel cost for PPPRA and PTI for August 2020, salaries arrears from March 2015 to December 2016 are also outstanding’.