PENGASSAN ORDERS NATIONWIDE STRIKE OVER ALLEGED MASS SACKING OF 800 WORKERS AT DANGOTE REFINERY
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Agency Report
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has ordered its members nationwide to withdraw their services following the alleged dismissal of more than 800 Nigerian workers by Dangote Refinery.
In a circular issued after an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Saturday, September 27, 2025, and signed by its General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, the union accused the refinery of breaching Nigeria’s labour laws, the Constitution, and International Labour Organisation conventions by sacking staff for joining the association.
The NEC alleged that the refinery had replaced the dismissed workers with “over 2,000 Indians,” describing the move as “an affront to all Nigerian workers.”
To press home its demands, PENGASSAN directed members in field locations to down tools from 6 a.m. on Sunday, September 28, and ordered a nationwide shutdown across offices, companies, institutions, and agencies from 12:01 a.m. on Monday, September 29.
“All processes that involve gas and crude supply to Dangote Refinery should be let off with immediate effect. All IOC branches must ramp down gas production and supply to Dangote Refinery and petrochemicals,” the union stated.
The NEC also announced 24-hour prayer vigils and declared that the strike would continue until the sacked workers were reinstated.
“An injury to one is an injury to all. No man is bigger than our country,” the circular read.
The refinery has been embroiled in a labour dispute with both PENGASSAN and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) over alleged violations of workers’ rights and safety standards.
The clash escalated after Dangote Refinery, in a letter dated September 24, 2025, announced the dismissal of some staff over alleged sabotage that it claimed threatened the operational safety of the 650,000-barrel-per-day facility.
While PENGASSAN put the number of dismissed workers at about 800, the company denied carrying out a mass sacking. Management insisted the exercise was part of an internal reorganisation to boost efficiency, maintaining that the majority of its workforce remained Nigerian.
If fully enforced, the strike could disrupt crude and gas supplies to the refinery, with possible ripple effects on downstream operations tied to the plant.
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