Daniel Otera
Nigeria’s oil and gas sector was thrown into crisis on Monday as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) began a nationwide strike, effectively shutting down operations at the country’s most critical energy institutions.
From the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), offices were locked, gates sealed, and workers absent after the strike kicked off at 12:01 a.m.
At NUPRC headquarters in Abuja, security men stood guard before padlocked gates, confirming that no staff were permitted entry. The NMDPRA’s Central Business District office wore the same look of abandonment, with the strike described as enjoying “100 percent compliance.”
“The strike has successfully shut down operations across the board,” said Tony Iziogba, PENGASSAN’s Chairman at NMDPRA. “No worker is allowed in, not even at NNPC. We are fully enforcing the directive of our National Executive Council.”
The union’s action stems from a bitter labour dispute at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, where PENGASSAN alleges that nearly 800 Nigerian workers were sacked for union membership and replaced by foreign nationals. Calling the dismissals a gross violation of labour laws and international conventions, the union has escalated its protest into a strike that now grips the nation’s oil and gas value chain.
PENGASSAN’s General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, went further on Monday, directing that all International Oil Companies (IOCs) cease gas and crude supply to the Dangote Refinery and its petrochemical plants. The union’s resolution specifically ordered all IOC branches nationwide to shut down production and supply lines linked to the refinery.
The stakes are enormous. With NNPC being Nigeria’s sole petrol importer and NMDPRA overseeing distribution, the strike threatens fuel availability across the country. Already, oil marketers are voicing fears of imminent scarcity and supply disruptions that could send pump prices soaring. Power sector operators are also on edge, as the NUPRC’s monitoring role is central to ensuring steady crude and gas flow to power plants.
Sensing the gravity of the standoff, the federal government has called for an emergency meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment scheduled for later today, September 29. Whether dialogue will calm the storm or Nigeria slips into another round of fuel queues and blackouts remains to be seen.
For now, the nation’s energy sector hangs in the balance, hostage to a labour dispute that has spiraled into a nationwide showdown.