Thursday, 12 December 2013
More than 200 staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation,( NNPC ) staged a peaceful protest in Abuja on Thursday against the planned sale of four of the nation's refineries which is to take happen by the first quarter of next year.
The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, had in an interview with Bloomberg TV Africa in London, disclosed that plans were underway to sell the refineries to private investors.The development was also confirmed by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) which said that the privatization process would be completed before the first quarter of 2014.
All
dressed in red shirts and red cap to match, the protesting staff were
led by the NNPC PENGASSAN Group Chairman, Sanusi Abdulkareem, and NUPENG
Group chairman, Richard Otuvwere, as early as 8.30am, gathered within the premises of the NNPC headquarters singing solidarity songs just as they vowed they resistance of the decision to sell the refineries
Some of the Placards read, ‘We say no to illegal sale of our refineries, we cannot be fooled anymore’. ‘Hide not under privatisation to hijack our refineries’, among others.
