The Federal Government has assured staff of the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources, Petroleum Equalisation Fund, and Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said this on Wednesday in Abuja when he met with employees of the affected agencies, where he assured the workers that they would be absorbed into the new agencies.
He said, “I want to assure you that staff have nothing to worry about because the law is very clear on the position of the staff of all the agencies. No job will be lost in this process, no remuneration will be lost in this process.
“Of course, the process is ongoing, and there’s a transition implementation committee which has been sitting, and the CEOs will join the implementation committees. We will work together to ensure that there is a seamless transition.”
The Petroleum Industry Act introduced the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority as regulatory agencies to take over the duties of the defunct DPR, PPPRA, and PEF.
Sylva, on Monday, had inaugurated Gbenga Komolafe as the Chief Executive Officer of the NURC and Farouk Ahmed as CEO of the NMDPRA.
He explained that the CEOs of the defunct agencies no longer had roles in the new agencies since new appointees are heading them.
He said, “This is a very normal transition because the PIA has been passed and the law stipulates that certain actions must be taken; that the DPR has to wind down and two successor agencies have to be inaugurated. Even me as a minister had to step down as chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as you all are aware.
“It is all because of what the law states. So, when I hear the DPR director has been sacked, the PPPRA director has been sacked, and the PEF director has been sacked, that’s not reflective of the situation.
“The PIA has established these agencies to succeed the DPR and the heads of these agencies have been appointed in the wisdom of the president and they have also been cleared by the national assembly,” the minister added.
