The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has declared a nationwide strike following the dismissal of some Nigerian workers by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
In a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, the union’s General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, said the decision was reached at an emergency meeting of PENGASSAN’s National Executive Council (NEC) held on Saturday.
Okugbawa described the refinery’s action as “a violation of Nigeria’s labour laws, the Constitution, and international conventions,” alleging that over 2,000 foreign workers had replaced Nigerians at the facility.
“The refinery has replaced Nigerians with over 2,000 foreign workers, subjecting our people to the worst type of working conditions in the oil and gas industry,” he said.
According to the union, all PENGASSAN members in field locations were ordered to withdraw their services from 6:00 a.m. on Sunday, September 28, while those in offices, companies, institutions, and agencies were to follow suit from 12:01 a.m. on Monday, September 29. The NEC also directed the immediate suspension of all processes involving gas and crude supply to the refinery.
Okugbawa further disclosed that a 24-hour nationwide prayer had been declared. “The prayer point should include a call to God Almighty to give courage to those in authority to rein in Dangote and his co-travelers on the need to obey the laws of our country,” he said, stressing that “an injury to one is an injury to all. No man is bigger than our country.”
The strike comes just days after the Dangote Group denied reports of mass layoffs at the refinery. In a statement shared via its official X account on Friday, the company said the ongoing reorganisation affects only a small number of employees and was necessary to safeguard operations from “repeated acts of sabotage that have raised safety concerns and affected operational efficiency.”
The refinery said over 3,000 Nigerians remain in active employment and emphasized that it continues to recruit local talent through its graduate trainee and experienced hire programmes.
Before the latest dispute, the refinery had faced tensions with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) over alleged union suppression. Though a resolution was signed in the presence of federal ministers and the Department of State Services (DSS), NUPENG accused the refinery of flouting the agreement days later by ordering drivers to remove union stickers from trucks and attempting to forcefully load products.
