The industrial dispute between the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) deepened on Saturday as the union ordered its branches to halt crude oil and gas supplies to the $20bn facility.
In a letter dated September 26 and signed by its General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, PENGASSAN accused the refinery’s management of sacking Nigerian workers for exercising their constitutional right to join the union.
“As you are aware, the Management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery has disengaged our members in reaction to the exercise of their constitutional right to being unionized,” the directive read. “They have gone further on a mission of misinformation and propaganda to justify this illegitimacy rather than engaging meaningfully with us to right the wrong.”
The union directed its branches in key upstream and midstream firms, including TotalEnergies, Chevron, Seplat, Shell Nigeria Gas, Oando, Renaissance, and the Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company (NGIC), to cut off crude and gas supplies to the refinery.
It further ordered the NGIC chairman to ensure strict compliance, stressing: “All crude oil supply valves to the Refinery should be shut. The loading operation for vessels headed there should be halted immediately… NGIC Chairman, ensure that gas supply to the Refinery is cut off effective immediately. All chairmen on this summons are to report promptly the progress of the directive.”
The union also threatened to picket the facility if the matter was not resolved, ending its letter with its solidarity slogan: “Injury to one! Injury to all!”
The standoff comes after PENGASSAN alleged that Dangote Refinery dismissed Nigerian workers for joining the union, withdrew staff buses, and barred local employees from entry while granting access to expatriates.
However, the refinery denied the claims, insisting that only a small number of staff were affected by what it described as a necessary restructuring. In a statement on Friday, management said the move was aimed at curbing “recurring acts of sabotage in different units of the refinery which posed serious risks to human lives and operations,” while emphasising that over 3,000 Nigerians remain in employment.
The union dismissed the refinery’s explanation as “illegitimate” and accused it of spreading propaganda instead of engaging in dialogue.
The row coincides with Dangote Refinery’s recent announcement that it would suspend petrol sales in naira from September 28, following the exhaustion of its crude-for-naira allocations.
