*Warns of massive job loss
By Charles Okonji
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has called on the Federal Government’ to reverse the executive order recently signed on oil and gas which directs all players in the oil industry to remit all levies and payment directly to the federation’s account.
The President of PENGASSAN Mr Festus Osifo who stated this on Thursday in Lagos noted that the Executive Order undermines key provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), stressing that it will not only lead and industrial crises but will also cause massive job loss.
Osifo stressed that Executive Order can’t override the Law, urging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reverse the already signed EO in the interest of the Nigerian people and the economy.
According to him; “An executive order cannot override the law of the land. What has been done amounts to setting aside sections of the Petroleum Industry Act. This is troubling and sends a wrong signal to investors.
“PENGASSAN was not engaged or carried along through any form of negotiation before the President signed the ED. The people that advised the President deceived him, they didn’t tell him the truth. This EO will scare foreign investors and this will pose a very big danger in the development of the oil industry.
“PENGASSAN participated in the formulation of the PIA through public hearings and engagements with lawmakers to ensure regulatory certainty capable of attracting both international and indigenous investors. So why was PENGASSAN not consulted before taking this decision.
“Globally, there is competition for petrodollars. Investors need clarity. If an executive order can change fiscal terms overnight, they may choose to invest elsewhere.”
He refuted the claim that about 30 percent of production-sharing revenue goes to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.), stressing that the actual figure is significantly lower.
“The danger with this EO is that it will throw thousands of Nigerian workers out of job. We have over 4,000 Nigerians working in affected operations, and If this continues, redundancies could occur and industrial crises may follow.
“We therefore call on the Federal Government to review the directive and engage stakeholders to avoid damaging the oil and gas sector, which has sustained Nigeria’s economy for over five decades.
“Reforms should be pursued through legislative amendments rather than executive order to preserve regulatory stability and investor confidence.”
Recall that the executive order, signed on February 13, 2026, and immediately gazetted, seeks to restore full constitutional revenue entitlements to federal, state and local governments by eliminating what the Presidency described as excessive and duplicative deductions reducing inflows to the Federation Account.
Note that it seeks to ending NNPC Limited’s 30% management fee on Profit Oil and Profit Gas from Production Sharing, Profit Sharing and Risk Service Contracts, on the grounds that the existing 20% profit retention already covers operational needs.
Abolishing NNPC’s 30% retention for the Frontier Exploration Fund under Sections 9(4) and (5) of the PIA, with all funds now transferred directly to the Federation Account.
