Oil workers under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) have said they are in support of Senate’s decision to investigate the allegations made by Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu in a letter written to President Muhammadu Buhari.

The workers in a statement on Monday also warned that they will stop non-executive officials from using top management positions in the national oil company to settle cronies at the detriment of it staff.

The statement which was signed by the Group Secretary of the Group Executive Council (GEC) of PENGASSAN in NNPC, Sulaiman Sulaiman said Nigerians including the NNPC are waiting to hear the outcome of the investigations.

“They, therefore, supported the decision of the Senate to thoroughly investigate the allegations in the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu against the NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru on the awards of the $25billion contracts and new appointments in the national oil company, adding that Nigerians will be waiting to hear the outcome of these sensitive investigations.”

The oil workers in the statement also vowed to resist the attempt by officials who are not designated for the administration of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to meddle with the affairs of the association.

“We shall continue to vehemently resist attempts in meddling into day-to-day running of the organization by non-executive officials of the Corporation.

“Problems will continue to occur as long as the Chairman of the Board will continue to meddle into day-to-day running of the organizations, which is a Management role. Any attempt to allow this to happen will spell doom for the country and create a window for abuse,” the statement read in part.

According to the workers, contrary to claim in the letter written by Kachikwu to the President, staffs are no longer afraid to talk or express their opinion, especially with the domestication of whistleblowing policy and re-constitution and launching of the Anti-Corruption Committee by the current GMD.

“In terms of workplace harmony, NNPC has enjoyed the best industrial atmosphere under the present Top Management of NNPC. So far there is zero record of industrial crisis or shutdown, which is the first of its kind in the history of struggle in oil and gas in Nigeria. Thanks to the efforts of the current GMD and the GED Corporate Services,” they said.