The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Wednesday, described the recent reports of plots to attack and destroy oil facilities, especially in the Niger-Delta Region, and overthrow the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari as inimical to the good of the country. In a statement signed by its General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, PENGASSAN said such threats amounted to “serious and treasonable acts punishable on conviction with maximum penalty as prescribed by the nation’s laws and other internationally recognized conventions.”
The oil workers union also warned “all aggrieved groups and politicians to stay away from the oil and gas facilities, which are the engine that drive the country’s economic and social development. “With a current population of about 200 million citizens, Nigeria cannot survive another internally instigated war. We counsel all aggrieved politicians to be patient and await the outcome of the various litigations pending at the electoral tribunals or wait till 2023 when another window of political activity will be lifted.”
President Muhammadu Buhari was formally inaugurated for a second term yesterday in Abuja, but the opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is still in court over the election results. Meanwhile, PENGASSAN also called on all elected officials “to show magnanimity in victory by accommodating and tolerating others,” while reiterating its commitment to “never engage in or support any acts capable of plunging the country into an abyss of pain and destructions.” This Day
