Petroleum Industry Battle Gets Dirtier As PENGASSAN Workers Move Against Festus Osifo Over Alleged ‘Constitutional Violation’

<h4>Petroleum Industry Battle Gets Dirtier<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a> <&sol;strong>reports that some members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria &lpar;PENGASSAN&rpar; have accused Festus Osifo&comma; the group’s national president&comma; of &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;undemocratic conduct and constitutional violations&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Comrade Osifo Festus of Total Nigeria PLC&comma; in the early hours of Friday 28th August 2020&comma; emerged as the 16th President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria &lpar;PENGASSAN&rpar;&period; He defeated his sole challenger Comrade Roland Frederick of Shell Petroleum by 17 votes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A total of 384 delegates drawn from the Association branches nationwide participated in the 6th Triennial National Delegates Conference held at the NAF Conference Center Abuja&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In the petition addressed to the registrar of trade unions&comma; Ministry of Labour and Productivity&comma; the members also raised concerns about the conduct of Lumumba Okugbawa&comma; the general secretary of PENGASSAN&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;concerned members” identify with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority &lpar;NMDPRA&rpar; branch of <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">PENGASSAN<&sol;a>&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;They complained about the unresolved and persistent issues concerning the duo’s &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;conduct and violations”&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The branch members urged the federal government to intervene in the concerns raised about the leadership of PENGASSAN&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;As a branch under the PENGASSAN structure&comma; we have made several efforts to engage the national leadership constructively on matters affecting our members and the proper administration of our branch in line with the constitution of our union&comma;” the petition reads&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The group said despite its efforts&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;numerous letters and correspondences” have been met with utter disregard and non-responsiveness&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The continuous actions and inactions of the national leadership amount to an abuse of office and a gross violation of the provisions of the PENGASSAN constitution&comma; especially as it pertains to the rights of branches&comma; democratic engagement&comma; and internal dispute resolution&comma;” the petition further reads&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We are compelled to escalate this matter to your esteemed office&comma; being the regulatory authority overseeing trade union administration in Nigeria&comma; to intervene appropriately and safeguard the integrity of trade unionism&comma; internal democracy&comma; and due <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;vanguardngr&period;com&sol;">process<&sol;a> within PENGASSAN&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The group&comma; comprising over 523 members &lpar;more than two-thirds majority&rpar; of the NMDPRA branch&comma; had accused the PENGASSAN leaders of interfering in the electoral process of the NMDPRA chapter&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;According to documents&comma; the group had rejected the appointment of caretaker committee &lpar;CTC&rpar; by the national leadership for the chapter&comma; which it said was without a proper election&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>They said the association’s leadership reached out to the NMDPRA branch&comma; via a letter dated June 27&comma; that it had constituted a <em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Caretaker Committee to run the affairs of the Branch”<&sol;strong><&sol;em>&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;However&comma; the NMDPRA branch kicked against the move&comma; describing it as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;entirely wrong”&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;unacceptable”&comma; and &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;unconstitutional”&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The branch members said due to the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;non-responsiveness” by the CWC&comma; they unanimously resolved &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;to conduct an election as passed by the branch members”&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The NMDPRA branch members said the matter was subsequently escalated to the minister of labour and employment&comma; after they received no positive response to their repeated requests to conduct the election&comma; as well as CWC’s compliance&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The Honorable Minister&comma; in his unprecedented wisdom and out of respect for the struggles of Branch members&comma; inclusive of our clients&comma; unlike the CWC&comma; responded to the request via a letter of the 15th of August&comma; 2025&comma; imploring the Branch Members to maintain calm&comma; and pause the conduct of the proposed election while it engage all parties concerned to see to the amicable settlement of the issues so raised in the interest of all&comma;”<&sol;strong><&sol;em> they said in a letter addressed to PENGASSAN’s national executive committee &lpar;NEC&rpar; through their lawyers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But the branch members said the CWC &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;almost immediately&comma; inaugurated the CTC” — an action the group referred to as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;continued non-compliance and unconstitutional acts&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;