Work has fully resumed at the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission following the union members’ one-day strike suspension.

Eniola Akinkuotu, spokesman for NUPRC, in a statement on Tuesday, said that the industrial action was called off on Monday night after a successful negotiation between NUPRC management and the two in-house unions.

“It was called off after a successful negotiation between the top management of the NUPRC, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG),” he said.

Mr Akinkuotu said the strike, which lasted 12 hours, affected only administrative work, while regulatory activities at oil and gas facilities remained unaffected.

“The commission, therefore, calls on members of the public to disregard false reports on crude oil production disruptions as well as misleading publications stating that the disagreement centred on foreign training.

“Lastly, the NUPRC promised to improve the operating environment of its workforce and prioritise staff development in line with the Petroleum Industry Act,” he said.

Members of PENGASSAN had on Monday blocked access to the NUPRC’s headquarters in protest of alleged irregularities in foreign training placements, forcing the suspension of administrative services.

A competent source within the commission said the disagreement stemmed from management’s decision to prioritise local training programmes over foreign capacity-building initiatives.

He said that the workers opposed it and insisted that overseas training programmes should continue.

The source said that the commission had argued that conducting specialised training within Nigeria would help reduce costs while strengthening domestic institutional capacity. 

(NAN)