THE Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced the suspension of petrol sales in naira, even as a labour crisis escalates over the alleged dismissal of hundreds of Nigerian workers.
In a notice sent to its customers on Friday, September 26, the refinery said the suspension of naira transactions would begin on Sunday, September 28, citing the exhaustion of its crude-for-naira allocation.
According to Punch, the company explained that it had already exceeded its allocation under the programme and could no longer sustain local currency sales.
The refinery advised customers with ongoing naira-based transactions to request refunds.
Part of the message read, “We have sold petroleum products in excess of our naira-crude allocations and, consequently, cannot continue PMS sales in naira going forward. This suspension will be effective from September 28, 2025.”
Industry analysts warn that the decision could again raise pump prices, as the shift to dollar transactions may increase costs. In March 2025, a similar suspension pushed prices to within a few hundred naira of N1,000 per litre.
The suspension comes at a time of heightened industrial tension. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has accused the refinery of victimising union members and terminating the appointments of over 800 workers.
The union alleged that the mass sack targeted employees who voluntarily joined PENGASSAN after a unionisation drive at the refinery. It also claimed that more than 2,000 Indian expatriates had been retained to take over the jobs of the dismissed Nigerians.
The General Secretary of PENGASSAN, Lumumba Okugbawa, told journalists that the termination followed the submission of the first batch of union members’ list to management. Over 800 workers agreed to join the union. Shortly after, we saw letters firing all Nigerian staff, while over 2,000 expatriates were retained,” he said.
PENGASSAN described the sack as a violation of workers’ constitutional rights to freedom of association. The union warned that it could picket the refinery if management failed to recall the affected workers, despite a subsisting court order barring unions from blocking operations at the facility.
In a separate statement, PENGASSAN urged the refinery to respect Section 7 of the Labour Act, which prohibits discrimination in employment, and the Trade Union Act, which guarantees workers the right to organise. The association said it had convened an emergency National Executive Council meeting to decide its next line of action.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery, however, dismissed the union’s allegations, insisting that the decision was part of an internal reorganisation. In a letter dated September 24, signed by Femi Adekunle, the Chief General Manager of Human Asset Management, the company stated that the dismissals followed repeated acts of sabotage in various units of the refinery, which raised safety concerns.
The refinery stated that the reorganisation was necessary to protect the facility, described as a “strategic national asset,” and claimed that only a small number of workers were affected. It added that over 3,000 Nigerians remain employed and that recruitment of new local staff is ongoing.
“The Dangote Petroleum Refinery recognises and upholds internationally accepted labour principles, including the right of every worker to freely decide whether or not to join a union. Our commitment to workers’ rights is unwavering,” the company said in a statement.
A reporter with the ICIR
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