THE Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has suspended its nationwide strike following the intervention of the Federal Government.
The union, however, stressed that the suspension is only temporary and warned that any breach of the new agreement would trigger an immediate resumption of industrial action.
PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, announced the decision at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, October 1, after negotiations with government officials and representatives of the refinery.
“We are only suspending, not calling off this strike,” he said, adding that “If any part of this agreement is broken, we will not give any warning. We will immediately resume our suspended industrial action.”
The union leader said the truce followed “intense intervention” from the Federal Government but admitted that PENGASSAN remained deeply sceptical about the sincerity of the Dangote Group.
Recall that as part of the truce, the Federal Government earlier announced that workers recently disengaged by the refinery will be redeployed to other subsidiaries within the Dangote Group.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi, disclosed this in Abuja, confirming that the affected staff would retain their salaries and benefits.
“After examining the procedure used in the disengagement of workers, the meeting agreed that the management of Dangote Group shall immediately begin the process of redeploying the disengaged staff to other companies within the group, with no loss of pay. No worker will be victimised arising from their role in the impasse between Dangote and PENGASSAN,” Dingyadi said.
Meanwhile, the suspension brings relief after weeks of confrontation between the union and the refinery’s management.
PENGASSAN had accused the company of unlawfully dismissing more than 800 Nigerian workers after they unionised, while replacing them with foreign nationals, allegations the refinery denied, insisting its restructuring was based on operational needs.
The standoff escalated when PENGASSAN ordered members to cut gas and crude oil supplies to the refinery, triggering disruptions across the country.
By September 30, the Nigerian Independent System Operator confirmed that the strike had forced several gas-powered plants offline, reducing national electricity generation by about 1,100 megawatts and plunging cities such as Lagos and Abuja into darkness.
Fragile truce
While the Federal Government expressed optimism that the resolution would restore industrial harmony in the oil and gas sector, PENGASSAN warned that its patience should not be mistaken for weakness.
“The National Executive Council of PENGGASAN has decided that they will go ahead to take the moral high ground, that we will go ahead to prove to the government that we are extremely patriotic people, that love this country more than any single individual, that we will go ahead to suspend the industrial action that we started on Sunday, 28th day of September 2025.”
“Remember, we are only suspending, and we didn’t call off. We will be monitoring and following closely on any slip on the part of Dangote. If any part of this agreement, or any part of this communique as put up by the Ministry of Labour, is broken, we will not give any notice, we will not give any warning, and we will resume the suspended industrial action immediately.
“We have only suspended the industrial action in respect of the government of the land. As an institution, are we completely happy with what was provided? The answer for us is no,” he added.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M