Work has fully resumed at the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) following the suspension of the one-day strike embarked upon by the union members.

Mr Eniola Akinkuotu, Head, Media and Corporate Communications (NUPRC) in a statement on Tuesday said that the industrial action was called off on Monday night after a successful negotiation between NUPRC management and the two in-house unions.

“It was called off after a successful negotiation between the top management of the NUPRC, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG),” he said.

Akinkuotu said that the strike, which lasted for 12 hours, affected only administrative work while regulatory activities in the oil and gas facilities were unaffected.

“The Commission, therefore, call on members of the public to disregard false reports on crude oil production disruptions as well as misleading publications stating that the disagreement centered on foreign training.

“Lastly, the NUPRC promised to improve the operating environment of its workforce and prioritise staff development in line with the Petroleum Industry Act,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that members of PENGASSAN had on Monday blocked access to the NUPRC’s headquarters in protest of alleged irregularities in foreign training placements, forcing suspension of administrative services.

A competent source within the commission said the disagreement was caused by the management’s decision to prioritise local training programmes over foreign capacity-building initiatives.

He said that the workers opposed it and insisted that overseas training programmes should continue.

The source said that the commission had argued that conducting specialised training within Nigeria would help reduce costs while strengthening domestic institutional capacity.

(NAN)