Fuel scarcity looms as PENGASSAN paralyses PPPRA operations

…accuses FG of weakening PPPRA operations

By Odunewu Segun

Nigerians may be hit by another round of petro scarcity if the crisis rocking the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) is not quickly nip in the bud.

The crisis which is connected to a leadership tussle has escalated with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), a branch of the agency shutting down all operations of the office pending when the debacle is resolved.

The union members who locked up the complex urged management of the agency to meet with government to resolve the issues of who is the authentic acting Executive Secretary of PPPRA instead of allowing two persons to parade as head of the agency thereby creating an environment capable of disrupting the progress of the organisation.

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Speaking to newsmen on the position of the union Chairman of PENGASSAN, PPPRA chapter, Victor Ononokpono, said that the government was only trying to weaken the activities of the PPPRA by involving itself in the leadership.

He hinted that ‎the appointment of an operator or marketer to head a regulatory agency like PPPRA and what it represents in the industry has for the past years scuttled and frustrated the smooth functioning of the agency.

“As a matter of fact, PPPRA has lost its independence and voice. It depends on policies drafted by the NNPC management, which is not supposed to be. The headship of PPPRA is too critical to bring someone from the operations or marketing segments of the sector to handle,” he stated.

According to Ononokpono, the unions will continue to shut down activities of the agency until government does the right thing by either remaining with its earlier directives that the sacked Chief Executives should hand over to the next most senior person, which the former ES, Farouk Ahmed, did last week.