By Yange Ikyaa
The Commission Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Ggenga Komolafe, has countered claims the Commission has illegally owed its employees about N10 billion, saying that the entitlements of all protesting staff have been settled and that NUPRC does not owe staff salaries.
His response came after some employees of NUPRC commenced a two-day protest over alleged non-payment of salaries.The employees also alleged poor welfare, non-payment of outsourced personnel and 2023 staff medicals, outstanding upfront allowances, non-remittance of pension deductions from staff salaries, poor working environment, and insufficient working tools, among others.
Those among the protesters included staff of the local branch of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), who barricaded the entrance of the head office of the Commission in Abuja.
Komolafe however told journalists that all unpaid claims of the protesting staff have been processed.
He further stated that the outstanding entitlements and all the issues that the protesting staff raised and itemized in their letter, dated July 3, have been settled because the payments had already been processed.
In addition, Komolafe noted that obligations relating to claims made by the union had been fulfilled and efforts were already in place to achieve closure on the pending items.
The NUPRC Boss said that his Management found the protest strange because it had earlier invited the staff to meet with the commissioner to ensure that their demands were met.
“Engagement is ongoing, while the true financial status of the commission has already been made known to the staff by the management,” he said.
Komolafe explained that asides for the claims which were delayed by funds shortage, salary and allowance were paid constantly and before the 30th of every month.
In his own words, “obligations are always higher than the resource you get, the money you get is always lower than your needs. When it comes to that you will now be rationing and prioritizing.
“If Microsoft subscription is expiring, would you want to pay claims and leave the subscription that can shut the whole system down?”he asked.
The NUPRC Boss further said that while he was away on an official trip, the commission’s finance executive commissioner informed him of the status of available funds.
According to him, within 10 minutes that the commissioner informed him, he immediately approved that all the pending claims should be settled and that on his return, he requested to know whether the claims have been paid.
Valuechain had earlier reported that the Management of NUPRC was accused of Illegally withholding the amount of N10 billion which it cut from monies that were meant to be paid as benefits to those who had retired from the Commission.
According to a reliable source, “the supposed N10 billion virement meant to pay the 30% illegally cut off from all year 2022 retirees is yet to be paid as we speak.”
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the source further noted that “the management has not equally paid the retirees’ long service award benefits, after having served the organisation meritoriously for 35 years, and for up to 20 months after exiting service.