The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria is set to meet the Presidential Implementation Committee on Wednesday as organised labour intensifies engagement with the Federal Government over President Bola Tinubu’s new executive order on oil and gas revenue remittances.

The committee, inaugurated by the presidency, is mandated to drive the implementation of the sweeping directive, which centralises key oil and gas earnings in the Federation Account and dismantles some funding structures created under the Petroleum Industry Act.

Speaking at the National Executive Council meeting of the association in Abuja, PENGASSAN President Festus Osifo said the union had already held a series of talks with government officials and would use Wednesday’s session to press home its concerns about the impact of the order on workers and industry stability.

Osifo described the union as a “reasonable” stakeholder that prefers dialogue to confrontation, explaining that PENGASSAN first raised the alarm publicly and then moved quickly into negotiations. He noted that engagements held on Sunday and Monday had produced “green lights,” suggesting that government officials now better understand the union’s position.

At the heart of the dispute is PENGASSAN’s argument that the executive order undermines the Petroleum Industry Act, while the government insists it is acting within constitutional powers over mineral resources. Osifo said discussions were gradually shifting from legal arguments to the practical consequences for personnel and operations.

Under the previous framework, profit oil was paid into the Federation Account, which then returned a management fee used to fund salaries and allowances of staff overseeing production sharing contracts. The new order abolishes the 30 per cent management fee retained by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and scraps the 30 per cent Frontier Exploration Fund.

Osifo warned that hundreds of workers attached to production sharing contracts within NNPC Limited could be affected if no alternative funding mechanism is created. These personnel, he said, interface daily with international oil companies, reconcile accounts and safeguard Nigeria’s entitlements, making their roles central to transparency and revenue protection.

While PENGASSAN supports reforms that deepen accountability in the oil and gas sector, the union insists that any changes must not destabilise existing operations or erode workers’ welfare. Osifo urged the government to consider legislative amendment of the PIA, rather than relying solely on executive powers, to avoid sending negative signals to investors and operators.