WorldStage– The African Democratic Congress (ADC), an opposition party has cautioned against the proposed amendments to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and the planned sale of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPC) equity shares.
ADC National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, gave the caution at a news conference on in Abuja in commemoration of the 65th independence anniversary of Nigeria.
He said that ADC believed that sales of NNPCL would not be a reform, but a disservice to the Nigeria and Nigerians.
He recalled that on Sept. 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 Bola Tinubu, rejecting the plans.
Abdullahi said that ADC fully aligned itself with the position of the unions, stating that if allowed to proceed, it would not only undermine Nigeria’s energy sovereignty, but it would also amount to a brazen transfer of public assets into private hands.
He added that the actions would also 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 more than 200 million Nigerians.
“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 off 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,” he said.
Abdullahi added that it would serve as dangerous precedent, turning Nigeria’s commonwealth into private property, and leaving future generations of Nigerians with nothing but memories of what was once theirs.
He called on all stakeholders including the civil society organisations, National Assembly and organised labour unions to reject the plan.
Abdullahi urged labour unions, particularly those in the vital oil and gas sector, the youth to speak out and demand full transparency and accountability in the process.
He reaffirmed ADC’s commitment to protecting Nigeria’s commonwealth, resisting corruption in all its forms and defending the economic rights of future generations.
While joining all Nigerians, at home and abroad, in reflecting and celebrating how far Nigerians had come as a people, he saluted the Nigerians who have kept faith with the Nigerian dream, even in the face of challenges.
“Sixty-five years ago, our founding fathers took the bold step of reclaiming our destiny, placing in our hands the solemn responsibility of building a prosperous, united and self-reliant Nigeria.
“Since then, through civil war, military rule, democratic transitions, economic booms and downturns, the Nigerian spirit has endured.
“That spirit resilient, creative, and unyielding is what binds us today,” he said.
He, however, called on President Bola Tinubu-led administration to address the economic hardship, insecurity and loss of public faith in government.
