THE industrial dispute between Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) escalated on Saturday after the union ordered a halt to crude oil and gas supplies to the $20bn facility.
In a letter dated September 26, signed by its General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, PENGASSAN accused the refinery’s management of sacking its members in retaliation for exercising their constitutional right to unionise.
The union described the move as “illegitimate,” alleging that the company also withdrew staff buses and denied entry to local workers while granting expatriates access.
Following the directive, PENGASSAN instructed its branch leaders in major upstream and midstream firms—including TotalEnergies, Chevron, Seplat, Shell Nigeria Gas, Oando, Renaissance, and the Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company (NGIC)—to shut off all crude oil and gas flows to the refinery. The order also mandated the suspension of vessel loading operations bound for the plant.
The union threatened to picket the facility if the dispute remained unresolved, insisting that Dangote Refinery was engaging in anti-labour practices instead of addressing concerns through dialogue.
In response, the refinery denied allegations of mass layoffs, insisting that only a small number of workers were affected in what it called a “reorganisation” to curb acts of sabotage within the facility. It stressed that more than 3,000 Nigerians remain employed and maintained that the restructuring was necessary to safeguard human lives and operations.
PENGASSAN, however, rejected the explanation, accusing the refinery of resorting to “misinformation and propaganda” rather than engaging meaningfully with the union.
The association directed NGIC’s chairman to ensure strict compliance with its order and requested regular updates from all affected branches.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.