Senate says President's action to unbundle NNPC is illegal

dimeji akinloye

March 9, 2016 5:26 PM

He said it is illegal to split the nation’s agency in charge of the oil and gas sector into seven independent units without consulting the National Assembly.

The Senate has initiated a move to probe President

The Senate Chief Whip, Senator Olusola Adeyeye called the attention of other senators to the unbundling in a point of Order on the floor of Senate today, March 9.

He said it is illegal to split the nation’s agency in charge of the oil and gas sector into seven independent units without consulting the National Assembly to revoke the enabling law that set up the organisation.

Adeyeye is expected to formally present a motion at the plenary session tomorrow, where the issue would be debated extensively.

READ: Nigerians react to unbundling of NNPC

Following the announcement of the split yesterday, March 8, workers of the NNPC shut down operations nationwide today, which resulted to fuel scarcity and long queues at filling stations across the country.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has however assured that he would meet with the striking workers and resolve the issues without further delay.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) said they decided to shut down operations because they were not carried along in the unbundling process.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu has said that he will soon resolve issues which led oil workers in the country to shut down facilities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in protest..

dimeji akinloye