Members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) on Monday staged a protest in front of the towers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in Abuja. The peaceful demonstration was in response to the recent mass sacking in Dangote Refinery.
Recall that the Refinery terminated the appointments of some of its workers last week, citing repeated acts of sabotage that have raised significant safety concerns and impacted operational efficiency.
According to the company, the decision has nothing to do with its workers joining unions, and it was a necessary measure to safeguard the facility and ensure its long-term stability.
The terminations attracted negative feedback from the unions, with the leadership of PENGASSAN urging members to withdraw services and all processes that involve gas and crude supply to the Refinery.
The Association maintained that Dangote Refinery’s selfish action to sack over 800 members for joining PENGASSAN is a slap on the face to all workers in Nigeria, and a deliberate violation of the country’s labour laws, the Constitution, and ILO conventions.
“Dangote Refinery’s notoriety for enslaving Nigerian workers, and the eventual sack of all Nigerians working in the refinery and hiring of over 2,000 Indians, is a show of disloyalty to a country that has given him the most incentives any company has ever enjoyed in Nigeria, at taxpayers’ expense. They have subjected Nigerians to the worst type of working conditions in the oil and gas industry.
That the over 800 staff whose jobs have been given to Indians, and their families are Nigerians and victims was made to suffer unjustly and there is an urgent need to avoid setting a dangerous precedence.
Consequently, the NEC resolves as follows: all PENGASSAN members across all ofices, companies, institutions, and agencies should withdraw all services effective 00:01 on Monday, 29th of September, 2025.
All processes that involve gas and crude supply to Dangote Refinery should be let off effectively immediately. All IOC branches must ramp down gas production and supply to Dangote Refinery and petrochemicals. The prayer point should include a call to God Almighty to give courage to those in authority to rein in Dangote and his co-travelers on the need to obey the laws of our country,” a press release read.
The federal government has since urged the association to shelve its planned strike action, calling both parties to a dispute resolution meeting.
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