October 12, (THEWILL) — Leaders of oil workers’ unions in Nigeria have blocked the country’s path to fuel independence for two decades and this month, the cost again landed squarely on ordinary households. Cooking gas prices reached over N2,500 from about N800 per kilogramme in parts of Lagos, a spike that followed a brief but damaging strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN). The action halted gas supplies to the Dangote Refinery, creating shortages that rippled through the supply chain and left retailers scrambling for stock.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) attributed the scarcity directly to the union’s action, which disrupted production at a critical moment. On October 10, 2025, the Federal Government barred PENGASSAN from further strikes against the refinery. Families now pay substantially more for basic needs whilst the economy absorbs the fallout. The episode has brought into sharp focus a deeper problem: organisations like PENGASSAN and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have repeatedly blocked steps towards self-sufficiency in fuel refining and the consequences are mounting.
The pattern of resistance runs back years. In 2007, under President Olusegun Obasanjo, the government sought to sell a 51 per cent stake in the Port Harcourt Refinery to a consortium that included Aliko Dangote. PENGASSAN and NUPENG organised protests and threatened indefinite strikes to stop the deal. Workers blocked access to facilities and warned of nationwide disruptions if the sale proceeded. Their opposition ensured the refinery remained under state control, where inefficiencies and fraud persisted and deepened. The incoming administration of President Umaru Yar’Adua cancelled the transaction in July 2007, citing irregularities, leaving the facilities in disrepair and contributing to ongoing losses that would stretch across decades. Similar threats arose for the Kaduna Refinery, with unions vowing to physically prevent any takeover.
The scale of that missed opportunity has become clearer with time as we all can see. The National Assembly reviewed a decade of spending and found that more than 11 trillion naira, about USD 20 billion, was expended into all sorts of rehabilitation efforts on the three main refineries at Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna without any success. We have wasted over USD30 billion annually on importation of refined petroleum products because of this lapse. The magnitude of damage to the economy is unimaginable.
These notorious unions’ role in sustaining this waste extends beyond blocking sale of these refineries. During Mele Kyari’s time as group managing director of the NNPCL from 2019 to 2024, PENGASSAN leaders praised him for supposed milestones in rehabilitation efforts. Later checks revealed the truth: the Port Harcourt Refinery operated far below capacity. Audits showed 90 per cent downtime in key units, despite expending billions of dollars on maintenance contracts. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission questioned Kyari in September over the expenditure of funds set aside for the projects. The funds remain unaccounted for whilst output stayed low, yet unions stayed silent on these issues, focusing instead on supporting narratives that delayed private sector involvement.
In my view, these union leaders are running extorting cartels whose main objective is to continue living off state resources at the expense of national economic growth. This should not be allowed to fester anymore. I call for urgent reforms. Let me be clear. I am not against workers unionising at all. I am just against using workers’ unions’ interest to stifle economic growth whether in public and private sectors.
Let’s go back to the recent clash between PENGASSAN and Dangote Refinery. Last month, the union accused the company of sacking 800 Nigerian staff who voluntarily joined the union and hiring 2,000 Indian workers without proper papers. The union demanded recognition for its members and threatened to cut crude oil and gas supplies. On 27 September, PENGASSAN directed branches to withdraw services nationwide, including halting gas from the Nigeria Gas Infrastructure Company and NNPC Gas Marketing Limited to the refinery. NUPENG joined by instructing tanker drivers to stop lifting products.
The action lasted three days before conciliation talks led to its lifting the order. Yet the damage had occurred: over 600,000 barrels of crude went unprocessed and fuel queues formed in Lagos and Abuja. Dangote Refinery described the moves as sabotage. A branch of NUPENG, the Petroleum Tanker Drivers, criticised PENGASSAN for overreach, calling the claims about foreign hires false. PENGASSAN dissolved executives at two gas firms for failing to fully enforce the shutdown, revealing internal pressure to maintain hard lines even when the broader labour movement questioned the strategy.
Again, I reiterate that workers have every right to bargain collectively, but sudden stoppages in a fragile system inflict immediate damage across the economy. The September strike alone cut oil output by 600,000 barrels, risking N1trillion in lost revenue. Cooking gas users, who make up 70 per cent of households, now face 40 per cent higher prices averaging much higher per kilogramme than previously, forcing many to burn wood or charcoal, which harms health and the environment. Gas cutoffs threatened thermal plants, leaving millions in darkness. A section of public reaction turned against the unions, with some commenters labelling the actions economic sabotage.
These disputes reveal how unions can prioritise internal demands over national needs. The unions defend their actions as rights protection, but the pattern suggests protection of interests tied to import chains. Leaders of PENGASSAN and NUPENG allegedly own stakes in tank farms and depots that profit from scarcity, according to reports from affected stakeholders. The recent events have exposed questions about their role in keeping state refineries idle, whilst fighting private alternatives that threaten those interests.
Nigeria stands at a point where fuel independence hangs in the balance. The Dangote Refinery offers a path out of import dependency, but only if unions shift from obstruction to partnership. Past failures, from the blocked 2007 sale of state refineries to the October 2025 strike, have cost too much in money and opportunity. Workers deserve representation that lifts everyone, not just a few. The gas and fuel lines of October 2025 serve as a stark reminder of the stakes. Without reform, the cycle will repeat, leaving families and the Nigerian economy to pay the huge price.
