The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has raised serious concerns about the increasing influx of Indian expatriates in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
According to PENGASSAN, this trend is not only depriving qualified Nigerian workers of employment opportunities but also constitutes a blatant abuse of the country’s expatriate quota system.
At the closing of the third edition of the Energy and Labour Summit in Abuja, PENGASSAN President Mr. Festus Osifo expressed his dismay over the dominance of Indian expatriates, particularly in companies like Sterling Oil and Indorama.
Osifo revealed that these companies have employed an alarming number of Indian workers, many of whom occupy low-level positions that could easily be filled by Nigerians.
“It is shocking to see the extent to which Indian expatriates have taken over jobs in our oil and gas sector,” Osifo said. “In Sterling Oil today, there are more Indians working there than Nigerians.
“In fact, even jobs like vulcanizing, which should be done by local workers, are being handled by Indians. This is an outright abuse of the expatriate quota system.”
However, PENGASSAN claims that companies like Sterling Oil and Indorama have been manipulating the system to bring in large numbers of Indian workers, even for roles that do not require any specialized skills.
Osifo explained that these companies have registered numerous shell companies to circumvent the quota limits.
“When they want to bring in 10 Indians, they use one company. The next day, when they want to bring in another 20, they use a different company.
“This way, they spread these expatriates across more than 200 companies,” he said.
This manipulation of the system has allowed these companies to flood their workforce with expatriates at the expense of qualified Nigerian workers.
PENGASSAN says it has been engaging with the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to address this issue, but Osifo noted that their efforts have yielded little results.
Despite extensive discussions over the past two years, the problem persists, leading PENGASSAN to consider more confrontational measures.
“What is left for us might probably be confrontation. We are fully prepared because we cannot be slaves in Nigeria. Nigeria’s oil resources belong to Nigerians, and it should benefit them first and foremost,” Osifo declared.
Osifo pointed out that this issue is not just about the number of expatriates but also about the wages they are paid.
In Indorama’s facilities in Port Harcourt, for instance, Indian workers are reportedly being paid in U.S. dollars, while Nigerian workers are left to contend with the effects of the devaluation of the naira. “This situation is unacceptable and it must be addressed now,” Osifo stated.
PENGASSAN has called on the Nigerian government to take immediate action to protect the rights and opportunities of Nigerian workers.
Osifo emphasized the importance of prioritizing Nigerian workers in the oil and gas sector. “Nigeria’s oil resources belong to Nigerians, and it should benefit them first and foremost. It doesn’t belong to Sterling or any other company,” he said.
