Daniel Otera
The standoff between Nigeria’s oil workers’ union and Africa’s largest refinery, Dangote Refinery, took a dramatic turn on Friday as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) ordered an immediate shutdown of crude oil and gas supplies to the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
The union’s action, delivered in a fiery directive signed by its General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, accused the refinery of sacking workers for joining the union—an act PENGASSAN branded as “anti-labour and illegitimate.”
In the directive, dated September 26, PENGASSAN instructed branch chairmen in major oil companies, including TotalEnergies, Chevron, Seplat, Shell Nigeria Gas, Oando, Renaissance, and the Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company (NGIC), to halt all crude and gas flows destined for the refinery. The NGIC chairman was given explicit orders to cut gas supply immediately and stop vessel loading operations linked to the facility. “Injury to one! Injury to all!” the directive thundered, capturing the union’s long-standing motto of solidarity.
The escalation followed weeks of rising tensions between PENGASSAN and the Dangote Refinery’s management. According to the union, the refinery not only dismissed its members for exercising their constitutional right to unionise but also withdrew staff buses, locked Nigerian employees out of the facility, and allegedly allowed expatriates continued access—moves PENGASSAN described as “illegitimate” and deeply provocative. The union warned that picketing the multi-billion-dollar plant could follow if management fails to address its grievances.
For the Dangote Refinery, however, the accusations tell only one side of the story. In a counter-statement on Friday, the company denied allegations of mass layoffs, insisting that over 3,000 Nigerians remain on its payroll. It acknowledged that a small number of staff had been disengaged, but framed the move as part of a reorganisation aimed at curbing sabotage and protecting lives and property.
The timing of the labour crisis is particularly sensitive. Just a day earlier, the refinery had rattled Nigeria’s energy market by announcing the suspension of petrol sales in naira, effective September 28, citing depletion of its crude-for-naira allocation. The twin blows—PENGASSAN’s strike action and the suspension of naira sales—threaten to rekindle public fears of another fuel supply crisis.
For now, the Dangote Refinery that once symbolised hope for Nigeria’s self-sufficiency in refined products finds itself entangled in an industrial showdown. Whether PENGASSAN’s pressure forces a reversal or escalates into prolonged disruption will determine if the Dangote Refinery can weather this storm—or if it becomes the stage for one of the most consequential labour battles in Nigeria’s oil industry.