Fresh tension is brewing in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has threatened to shut down operations at the Dangote Refinery following the mass dismissal of workers.
In a statement on Friday, the union’s General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, alleged that over 800 Nigerians were abruptly sacked just hours after they joined the union. He warned that PENGASSAN would explore all options, including an industrial action, if the refinery management fails to reinstate the dismissed employees.
The Dangote Group, in its response, confirmed the dismissal but claimed only “a very small number of staff” were affected, insisting the decision was necessary to protect the $20 billion, 650,000-barrel-per-day facility from what it described as “repeated acts of sabotage.” However, no specific details of the alleged offences were provided.
In a viral letter circulated on Friday, some of the affected workers accused the company of victimising them for exercising their constitutional right to freedom of association through union membership. PENGASSAN also alleged that Dangote Refinery has begun replacing the sacked Nigerian workers with about 2,000 Indian nationals.
The union disclosed that it has summoned an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting to determine its next line of action. If not swiftly resolved, the standoff could lead to a shutdown of the refinery, with the ripple effect of pushing petrol prices further up in a country already grappling with rising energy costs
