PENGASSAN amends constitution, adopts new leadership succession model

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has amended its constitution to introduce an automatic leadership succession model, a move aimed at ending prolonged succession battles, factionalisation and leadership disputes within the union.

PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, announced the constitutional amendment on Saturday in Abuja during a day of tributes held in honour of the association’s late former president, Francis Johnson.

Osifo said the amendment, which was unanimously approved in August 2025, provides that the elected deputy president will automatically succeed the president at the end of the latter’s tenure.

“We amended our constitution to adopt a succession arrangement similar to that of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), where the elected deputy president automatically succeeds the president,” he said.

According to him, the new framework was adopted after a review of the challenges that had historically characterised leadership transitions in the union, with the objective of removing the intense contest for the presidency.

“The new system will ensure that the union remains focused on its core responsibilities rather than being consumed by internal battles over leadership,” Osifo added.

He explained that the decision followed a study of succession models used by other professional and membership organisations and was designed to institutionalise a predictable and peaceful transition process.

Osifo also said the reform was influenced by the lessons from the leadership vacuum created after the death of former PENGASSAN President Francis Johnson, who died on May 31, 2019, while in office after a brief illness.