(Ecofin Agency) - Federal Government on Friday swore not to reduce the number of staffs of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), following threats by Labour Unions to evade Imo state if sacked workers were not reinstated.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu (photo), revealed this to leaders of the labour union at joint press conference organized by the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).

Kachikwu said the Federal Government has vowed that rather than reducing the number of employees, it will enlarge the operations of NNPC, so as to make it globally competitive.

Meanwhile Achese Igwe, the National President of NUPENG and said that the union will strongly resist any effort to sack workers.

“The government today talks about job creation and not job losses. With the current economic challenge we are having in our country, we need not to lose jobs that are already created. If you ask me, what is the staff strength of the NNPC and what is the staff strength of Petrobras, Petronas and the rest of them? We are just an inch of the staff strength of these organizations. Most of them have a staff strength of 34,000 personnel, and the entire staff strength of the NNPC today is not up to 5,000 as the case may be,” Igwe told Punch news.

He added that the union will react to any job losses in the oil and gas sector, particularly at NNPC and fight it within the context of what the labour unions are known for.

Anita Fatunji