NUPRC Staff Begin Nationwide Strike Over Foreign Training

• Regulator says talks ongoing, oil and gas facilities unimpacted

Employees of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), represented by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), began an indefinite nationwide strike yesterday.

The workers closed all NUPRC offices across the country, citing a dispute with commission management over foreign training arrangements.

THISDAY reports that the industrial action, which started on Monday, halted regulatory activities at the NUPRC headquarters in Abuja and at all field offices, effectively suspending the administrative and operational functions of the upstream regulator.

In response, the NUPRC confirmed the strike by its staff but noted that while some administrative tasks were affected, oil and gas facilities remained operational.

The regulator also said that as of yesterday evening negotiations were still underway with the workers, aiming to resolve the contentious issues.

“It is true that some administrative activities were affected today due to industrial action taken by the unions. However, this has not in any way impacted activities in oil and gas facilities or production in general,” a brief statement from the commission in Abuja read.

“The top management of the commission is meeting with the unions in order to put an end to the strike and ultimately restore normalcy,” the statement added.

The strike followed a breakdown in talks between the union and management over staff training programmes, particularly the commission’s preference for local capacity‑building rather than overseas training.

Management argued that training—especially for factory acceptance tests for Positive Displacement (PD) meters—should be delivered domestically to reduce costs and strengthen local institutional capacity, a position that the workers rejected.

A security source said that representatives of both parties were meeting at the office of the National Security Adviser as of yesterday, where a resolution is expected.

The federal government has recently reviewed operations in the oil and gas sector, declaring that royalty payments, petroleum profit taxes and other statutory revenues previously collected and retained by the NUPRC will henceforth be paid directly into the Federation Account.