As the 24-hour ultimatum given to the management of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), formerly Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), expired on Wednesday, workers of the agency have picketed the commission headquarters, demanding the immediate sack of its chief executive officer, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe over alleged fraud and abuse of office.
The protesting staff, who dressed in black and red attire, in their hundreds besieged and placed a casket bearing ‘RIP Fraud’ at the main entrance to the NUPRC complex, located at Idris Ibrahim Crescent, off the major road leading to Lifecamp/Wuse axis in Jabi, Abuja.
They chanted “Komolafe must go”, alleging that h deliberately reframed from opening channels of communication to address poor employees welfare throughout the two years of his stewardship.
The staff also called on President Bola Tinubu to sack Komolafe or order him to resign, to pave way for an urgent unrestrained forensic audit of all contract processes and payments by the commission under his watch.
National treasurer, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, (PENGASSAN), Comrade Owan David, who joined the protest, reiterated that despite all effort to resolve the burning issues threatening wellbeing of the commission and the industry at large, the Komolafe-led NUPRC had paid a deaf ear to them, leaving the staff union with no option, other than peaceful protest, to register their grievances.
He however, warned that if nothing was done to address the situation, workers through the instrumentality of the union would not hesitate to withdraw from their duty posts nationwide, and mobilize to join the protest in Abuja, until the authorities take necessary
action to save the commission from total collapse.
Earlier, branch chairman of the NUPRC workers’ union, Comrade Okechukwu Anya, decried that the embattled management, instead of urgently engaging and addressing their grievances, had resulted to intimidating the staff union leaders for speaking up and asking for improved working conditions at the commission.
Anya alleged that NUPRC under Komolafe, has recorded depths of corruption, staff neglect, sexual
harassment, and gross mismanagement of its funds.
He added that appalling neglect of staff welfare is highlighted by the commission’s inability to cover medical services for staff due to
heavy unpaid debts, non-payment of statutory group life insurance and pension claims, and chronic underpayment of staff entitlements.
Anya said the NUPRC has been turned into a hotbed of favouritism and patronage, with the recruitment of over 140 individuals, without proper procedures and in violation of the Federal Public Service rules and the Federal Character Commission’s policies on equal opportunities.
He continued, l “Our investigation reveals that Engr. Gbenga has utilized his position to
continually exploit the commission’s coffers to satisfy his personal interests.
His flagrant disregard for the plight of his staff and the well-being
of the nation is nothing short of scandalous deserving of an urgent
unrestrained forensic audit of all contract processes and payments.
Top on the list of his nefarious activities is the shameful non-payment of gratuities to staff who retired in 2022. Despite numerous pleas from these retirees and securing virement of about 10 billion Naira from the National Assembly intended to cover these payments, he instead
misappropriated these funds, donating an astonishing 4 billion Naira to political parties in the run-up to elections, in a blatant bid to retain his position and squandering the rest.”
When contacted for reaction, the head, of public affairs unit (PAU), of the commission, Adamu Garba, declined comment on the matter, as he was on leave.
When pressed on to comment, Garba insisted that he was not in the know of the development, stressing that he had embarked on leave for about a month period.