After a visit to the Port Harcourt Refinery, Organised Labour has emphasised its rejection of outright sale of public refineries to the private sector.
Rather, it will only sanction a sale where the private sector has a majority stake, while government, workers and host communities having the minority stake.
Speaking with newsmen, President of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, Prince Williams Akporeha, said leaders of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC; Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC; NUPENG and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, have endorsed the Nigerian liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, model as the only acceptable one for the privatization of the refineries.
Furthermore, he explained that in the NLNG model, the private sector has 51 stakes, while the federal government retains 49 stakes, saying this model has been effective and all stakeholders are happier.
According to him, “Our recent visit to the Port Harcourt Refinery has further strengthened and reinforced our belief that we are not going to accept any outright sale of the public refineries such Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries to the private sector.
“From our assessment of the Port Harcourt Refinery, no private investor or group of investors can bring about or pay back the money spent in the rehabilitation.
“It is almost like a new refinery. I can say it is over 90 percent replacement of all the equipment.
“How much can private buyers pay? We are all witnesses to the privatization of public assets that have taken place in the past. The story is what no well meaning Nigerian can encourage.
“Also, the NLC President, TUC and PENGASSAN presidents and myself, have made it abundantly clear after the visit that on no account are we going to accept outright or total sale of the refineries to the private sector.
“We shall only accept a model like the NLNG, where the private sector has a controlling stake, the government, the workers and the host communities will have minority stakes or shares.
“That is our position. We won’t accept a position where taxpayers money and our commonwealth is given away as scrap or political patronage, as has been done in the past.
“I can confirm that the Port Harcourt Refinery is producing and functioning well.
“We were there. Even though, as insiders, we knew about this, but we went, saw and can confirm once again that the Port Harcourt Refinery is working well.”