PENGASSAN adopts new succession model

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has implemented a new succession model designed to streamline leadership transitions and mitigate internal conflicts. PENGASSAN President Festus Osifo announced the change, emphasizing its role in preventing rancor, factionalization, and protracted disputes.

Osifo explained that the union amended its constitution in August 2025 to adopt a system similar to that of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). Under this new arrangement, the elected deputy president will automatically succeed the president, thereby eliminating the need for direct contestation for the presidential office.

This decision was influenced by the union's review of succession models used by other professional bodies, including the Nigerian Bar Association and ICAN. PENGASSAN found the ICAN model, where the first vice-president transitions to president, particularly effective in balancing and smoothing leadership transfers. The goal is to reduce tension and ensure a more predictable power transfer.

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In PENGASSAN, whoever is the deputy president elected is going to automatically become the president. So, there is no contestation again in the office of the president. So, that is known. So, because that is known, it reduces the tension that normally comes.

The adoption of this model is partly shaped by the memory of the leadership vacuum created by the sudden death of former PENGASSAN president Francis Johnson in May 2019. Johnson served as president from June 2014 to May 2019. The union seeks to institutionalize a smoother process to avoid similar disruptions.

Osifo stated that the constitutional amendment was unanimously passed and that the next transition, scheduled for August, will see the current deputy president automatically assume the presidency. This move is expected to significantly reduce internal competition and tension during leadership changes within PENGASSAN.

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We looked at the Nigerian Bar Association and said no, that is not the best model. We looked at ICAN, for example. We said, yes, I think there is something there. If you look at ICAN, they don’t contest the election into the president, but they contest the election into the vice because the president is already known.