Nigeria’s oil and gas sector faces fresh tension as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) on Sunday ordered its members nationwide to withdraw their services following the dismissal of more than 800 Nigerian workers at the Dangote Refinery.
PENGASSAN’s General Secretary, Mr. Lumumba Okugbawa, announced the directive after an emergency meeting of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) in Abuja. He described the refinery’s action as “a violation of Nigeria’s labour laws, the Constitution, and international conventions,” accusing the company of replacing Nigerians with over 2,000 foreign workers under “the worst type of working conditions in the oil and gas industry.”
Effective from 6:00 a.m. on Sunday, September 28, PENGASSAN members in field operations were directed to down tools, while members in offices, institutions, and agencies are to withdraw services from midnight, Monday, September 29. The union also suspended all processes involving crude oil and gas supply to the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery.
Okugbawa warned that the union would not allow the mass sack to go unchallenged, declaring: “An injury to one is an injury to all. No man is bigger than our country.” He further disclosed that the union had declared a 24-hour nationwide prayer, asking members to pray for “courage for those in authority to rein in Dangote and his co-travelers.”
In response, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) waded into the dispute, urging both parties to embrace dialogue to avert a crisis that could disrupt national energy supply.
Chief Executive Officer of NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, said: “Regardless of the fact that the issues involved are mid- and downstream affairs, parties should refrain from actions that will cause disruption in energy supply. We believe the issues are resolvable through dialogue and an amicable solution must be sought in the interest of the country.”
But the Dangote Refinery pushed back strongly, describing PENGASSAN’s strike as “economic sabotage” and calling on the federal government to intervene.
The refinery maintained that its reorganisation exercise was necessary to ensure operational safety and efficiency, insisting that it had not acted outside the law.
The standoff now puts Nigeria’s energy sector on edge, with fears that the strike could escalate if urgent mediation fails.