Employees of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company staged a protest in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, calling for an immediate halt to Oando Plc’s acquisition of the company’s assets.
They obstructed access to Agip’s Port Harcourt facilities and appealed to the Federal Executive Council, the National Assembly, and regulatory authorities to intervene and stop the transaction.
The protest was led by Eyong Survival, the leader of the demonstrators and the chapter chairman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) within the company.
Reason for the protest
Mr. Survival alleged that the acquisition process violated established labour laws and warned that it could result in the termination of more than 3,000 jobs. He further revealed that the assets in question included Oil Mining Leases in Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, and Imo states.
In response to the situation, the employees decided to suspend their services at all Agip-operated facilities while awaiting a satisfactory resolution from the company and relevant stakeholders.
The impact of this work stoppage was already noticeable, as gas supplies to critical infrastructure and communities had been disrupted.
Demands from the staff
Mr. Survival emphasized that if the transaction were to proceed, affected staff should be provided with special severance packages.
Additionally, those eligible for transfer to the new owner, Oando Plc, should be able to do so without encountering unnecessary obstacles.
Backstory
It’s worth noting that Oando Plc had previously announced its agreement with ENI to acquire 100% of the shares of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company.
Although this transaction remains subject to approval from regulatory agencies and the federal government.
The regulatory body should ensure that their severance packages are paid to exiting employees in line with their contracts of service and existing laws or at least provided for before they give approvals.
This should not be one of their cases where employees are denied already earned benefits as has been as a result takeovers in this country.