The African Democratic Congress (ADC) is against the plan to sell the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), and said it amounts to selling off the nation’s energy sovereignty.
Organised labour in the petroleum industry, the the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), had in a joint letter to President Bola Tinubu on September 22, rejected the proposed amendments to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), and the planned sale of NNPCL’s equity in high-performing joint ventures.
The ADC National Publicity Secretary Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, at press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, said the party aligned itself with he unions’ position, both on the proposed PIA amendments and the sale of the NNPCL.
“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,” Abdullahi stated.
According to him, the planned sale is
part of a deliberate and calculated effort to dismantle institutional checks and balances in the NNPCL “and
pave the way for the free-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.”
Abdullahi said there is also the issue of energy security, adding that by handing over decisive control of these assets to private interests, the government weakens Nigeria’s ability to stabilise energy supply, the response to global oil shocks, or to 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,” he argued.
The party therefore, called on all segments of the society to rise to the occasion and resist “this unfolding plunder of our national resources.”
It also called on the National Assembly, to reject any attempt to amend the Petroleum Industry Act in ways that would serve private or political interests over the public good.
“Labor unions, particularly those in the vital oil and gas sector, must act decisively to protect our national sovereignty and strategic assets,” Abdullahi said
He assured of the ADC’s commitment to protecting Nigeria’s commonwealth, resisting corruption in all its forms, and defending the economic rights of future generations.
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