September 29, (THEWILL) — The Federal Government has urged the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, to shelve its planned nationwide strike for Monday and come for an emergency reconciliation meeting with the management of Dangote Refinery at the Ministry of Labour and Employment in Abuja, today.
This meeting is coming on the heels of the threat by PENGASSAN to embark on a nationwide strike (starting today) following the sacking of Nigerian workers and alleged anti-labour practices at the private refinery.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, on Sunday summoned the warring parties to the meeting, while he appealed to the “association to reconsider its strike declaration in order to give room for dialogue and an amicable resolution of the dispute.
Patience Onuobia, Head of Information and Public Relations, Ministry of Labour and Employment, who made a statement available to journalists in Abuja, disclosed that the Minister said his ministry had taken swift steps to bring both the leadership of PENGASSAN and the management of Dangote Refinery to the negotiation table.
According to him, invitations have been formally sent to both parties to attend an emergency meeting at his office in Abuja on Monday for conciliation talks aimed at preventing the dispute from mounting further.
“The Ministry of Labour and Employment through the Director of Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations has extended invitations to the leadership of PENGASSAN and the management of Dangote Refinery to attend a conciliation meeting in my office on Monday,” Dingyadi stated, adding, “I appeal to both parties to be mindful of the importance of the petroleum sector to the country, being the core of her economy. A strike will not only lead to heavy revenue losses by the country but also cause more hardship and difficulties for Nigerians. Consequently, it will have adverse impacts, both on economic stability and national security.”
THEWILL recalls that PENGASSAN and Dangote Petroleum Refinery have been engaged in a battle royal over the termination of the association’s 800 members by the refinery. In reaction, President of the association, Comrade Festus Osifo called an emergency meeting of its executive committee.
Arising from the meeting at the weekend, the General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa directed all its members, especially those in the Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company (NGIC) branch, to immediately halt gas supply to the multibillion-dollar refinery.
It also directed an immediate shutdown of all crude oil supply valves to the refinery, as well as the suspension of loading operations for vessels destined for the facility.
According to the union, the directive was in response to the termination of employment of 800 workers of the refinery who are members of the association.
Shocked by the association’s directive to its members, the management of Dangote Refinery urged the Federal Government and Nigerians to call PENGASSAN to order.
The management of the refinery said it was effecting a reorganisation of its workforce to safeguard the company from repeated acts of sabotage and frowned at the action of PENGASSAN to halt its operations, declaring the act as criminal and economic sabotage against the Nigerian State.
Drawing attention to the unquantifiable and irredeemable hardship the PENGASSAN directive would cause, the refinery, in a statement by its Chief Corporate Communication Officer, Anthony Chiejina, on Saturday, called on the Federal Government and its security and law enforcement agencies, as well as all Nigerians, to ensure “this criminal, lawless, reckless and irresponsible conduct of PENGASSAN” is halted.
He said the “directive” issued by PENGASSAN on 26 September 2025 was to its TotalEnergies E&P, Seplat Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Renaissance, Chevron, Oando, Shell Nigeria Gas, SNG and NGIC branches.
The minister, however, appealed to PENGASSAN to think of the critical importance of the petroleum sector to Nigeria’s economy and the potential implications of a strike on national stability.
Dingyadi expressed the confidence in the capacity of the Federal Government to resolve the dispute between the union and the refinery management and called on them to “approach the meeting with a spirit of compromise and mutual respect.”
The minister warned that industrial action in the petroleum sector would not only lead to heavy revenue losses for the country but also compound economic hardship for citizens and threaten national security.
He said, “The Federal Government will resolve the dispute amicably to the satisfaction of all the parties involved and in the national interest.”
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