The federal government has summoned the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and Dangote Refinery management to a reconciliation meeting today, Monday, to avert the nationwide strike declared by oil workers.
The move comes as the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has thrown its weight behind the strike planned by oil workers protesting against the sacking of over 800 employees by Dangote Refinery.
Private sector stakeholders have called for legal remedies amid the crisis, while Dangote warns the conflict could trigger fuel scarcity across the country.
This is as electricity generating companies (GenCos) have confirmed that they have been notified of gas supply cuts to thermal plants, threatening a nationwide blackout.
The minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, yesterday, appealed to PENGASSAN to suspend its strike, scheduled to begin today.
Dingyadi said the ministry had taken steps to bring the disputing parties together to prevent the conflict from deepening. He disclosed that invitations had been extended to both sides to meet in his office on Monday.
“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,” the minister said.
“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. Consequentially, it will have adverse impacts, both on economic stability and national security,” he added.
The minister further assured Nigerians that the federal government was committed to resolving the dispute in a peaceful and fair manner.
“We urge both parties to give peace a chance, as the government will resolve the matter in the interest of all stakeholders and the nation at large,” he said.
Power Generation Firms Get Notice Of Gas Supply Cut
A nationwide blackout is looming as the power generating companies (GenCos) said they may be forced to shut down their thermal plants following strike directives from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
The executive secretary of the Association of Power Generating Companies, Dr. Joy Ogaji, confirmed the development in a message to stakeholders on Sunday. She revealed that gas suppliers had already issued notices to halt supply to thermal power stations in compliance with the union’s directive.
LEADERSHIP’s checks reveal that thermal power plants currently generate about 20 per cent of the power on the national grid.
“Thermal GenCos have received notification from our gas suppliers to shut down our thermal power plants following directives from PENGASSAN. The Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company has specifically requested GenCos to comply,” Ogaji stated.
She cautioned that hydroelectric dams alone cannot sustain the national grid, warning of “imminent darkness” if the strike proceeds.
The warning comes shortly after PENGASSAN announced plans to begin an indefinite nationwide strike on Monday over the dismissal of more than 800 workers at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
After an emergency NEC meeting on Saturday, the union directed its members across the oil and gas sector to down tools until the dismissals were reversed.
Industry experts say the strike could paralyse crude production, fuel supply, gas distribution, and electricity generation.
With thermal plants responsible for over 70 per cent of Nigeria’s power supply, analysts fear the shutdown may overwhelm hydro stations and trigger a total grid collapse.
TUC Backs PENGASSAN
Meanwhile, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has declared full support for PENGASSAN in the ongoing dispute, describing the sack of workers at the Dangote Refinery as anti-worker and unconstitutional.
In a statement signed by its secretary general, Comrade Nuhu Toro, the labour centre condemned the dismissal of workers for union membership, insisting it violated Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution and international labour standards.
“We stand in full solidarity with the affected workers and with their union, our affiliate PENGASSAN, whose members have been victimised merely for declaring membership. Such actions amount to a direct assault on Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution and on Nigeria’s obligations under International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions,” the statement read.
The TUC demanded the immediate reinstatement of all affected workers, a public apology from the refinery’s management, and an independent investigation into the company’s labour practices involving the Ministry of Labour, ILO, and other stakeholders.
The statement added, “Congress hereby places all affiliates on stand-by for a national industrial action if Dangote management fails to comply with these demands within a reasonable time.
“No corporation, regardless of size or wealth, will be allowed to trample on the dignity and rights of Nigerian workers.”
Private sector, stakeholders call for legal redress
The Organised Private Sector (OPS) and relevant stakeholders have warned the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria(PENGASSAN) to desist from its proposed plan to cut crude oil and gas supply to Dangote Refinery, noting that the casualty of this move is not only Dangote but the entire country.
While describing the union’s action as disproportionate and extreme, they said this decision is tantamount to disrupting the country’s energy supplies, thereby threatening the entire energy ecosystem.
They urged the group to seek redress in the court of law instead.
Earlier on Saturday, PENGASSAN, through a written communication to its branches in TotalEnergies E&P, Seplat, Renaissance, Chevron, Oando, Shell Nigeria Gas, and the Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company, ordered members to shut crude supply valves to the Lekki-based refinery and cut gas flows effective immediately.
The association, which has been locked in a labour dispute with the Dangote refinery over the recent sacking of about 800 workers, also directed branch chairmen to halt loading operations of vessels headed for the refinery and report progress on implementation of the directive.
The chief executive officer(CEO) of the Center for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) Dr. Muda Yusuf, in a chat with LEADERSHIP on Sunday, said: “The implications of this action is that it will affect all areas of the economy. addressing a trade union issue with such drastic step is going to the extreme.
“National Industrial Court is there and Ministry of Labour and Employment is there for intervention but I am not sure if these steps have been exhausted before going to the extreme of cutting supply to Dangote Refinery. For now, they have not fully exhausted the dialogue option before embarking on what could cause a lot of harm to Dangote Refinery over the stoppage of the flow.”
The CPPE boss added that ‘the shutdown of gas and crude would inflict untold hardship not only on Dangote Refinery but on all Nigerians and will send a wrong signal to investors as Dangote is not only Nigeria’s investor.’
According to Yusuf, while the union has the right to protect workers, investors also deserve the right to equally protect their investment, as there should be defined boundaries when it comes to industrial relations.
Government, he said, should dutifully look at the legality and otherwise of the labour laws as they relate to such action carried out by PENGASSAN.
He noted that this development could scare off potential investors, who would see the union as capable of frustrating their investments by using instruments of coercion to shut down their investments.
Yusuf said the group failed to explore other avenues that would allow dialogue through the Ministry of Labour or the Court of Arbitration to determine how to proceed with their case.
Similarly, the immediate past national president of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture(NACCIMA), Otunba Dele Kelvin Oye said it was time to sheathe the sword in favour of dialogue.
Oye said the current confrontation could erode the gains recorded by Dangote Refinery so far by and disrupt oil production, undermine the multiplier effects of investment and deter fresh foreign and domestic capital inflow.
PENGASSAN Strike is economic sabotage against Nigeria – Dangote
Meanwhile, Dangote Refinery in a statement on Sunday warned that the recent directive to cut crude oil and gas supplies to the refinery could plunge Nigerians into fresh rounds of fuel scarcity while inflicting huge revenue losses on the government.
Dangote Refinery described the directive as ‘criminal, reckless, and an act of economic sabotage’ adding that, if enforced, it would disrupt the production and nationwide supply of critical petroleum products, including petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, kerosene, and cooking gas.
The company stressed that these products are indispensable to daily life and the economy and warned that Nigerians at every level, from households to businesses and industries, would bear the brunt of shortages
It noted that a sudden disruption in supply will translate into insufferable hardship for millions of Nigerians.
“The products that would be disrupted and stopped include but are not limited to aviation fuel, petrol, kerosene, diesel and cooking gas – all products that are used and required by all stripes of Nigerians and persons living in Nigeria, whether high and mighty or lowly and ordinary. In what circumstance would it be justified for PENGASSAN to so disrupt and introduce insufferable hardship into the living conditions of Nigerians? None that we can see,” the company said.
“The follow up question is, in whose interest and on whose behalf is PENGASSAN directing and intending to inflict such anarchic and criminal disruption upon the Nigerian society and persons living in Nigeria? Most certainly, not in the interest of the Nigerian State and/or the Nigerian public and citizens,” it queried.
Beyond the immediate hardship on citizens, Dangote Refinery warned that the government’s revenue would also be dented, given the refinery’s status as one of the country’s largest taxpayers and contributors to both federal and state coffers.
The company said any pause in operations would stall contributions to the national purse and undermine investor confidence in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
The statement noted that “this is also economic sabotage against the Nigerian state at multiple levels. Dangote Refinery is the only refinery of its type in Africa and ordinarily should be the pride of all Nigerians as well as the governments of Nigeria. It should ordinarily have special protection and status and indeed qualifies as a strategic national asset”.
It added that an irreparable injury to the Dangote Refinery such as PENGASSAN has directed constitutes a national embarrassment to the country and a disincentive to external investors who ordinarily would have been encouraged by the success of Dangote Refinery to contemplate investing in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector or generally.
“PENGASSAN may also not be aware that Dangote Refinery is one of the largest contributors to the revenue purse of the Nigerian governments – both federal and sub-nationals. That contribution is currently threatened by PENGASSAN and would of course be paused if and as soon as and for as long as the PENGASSAN directive is implemented by its branches,” it noted.
Calling on the federal government and security agencies to act swiftly, the refinery urged Nigerians to take note of the “unquantifiable and irredeemable hardship which PENGASSAN wishes to inflict on all of us” if not checked, warning that fuel queues, energy shortages and price hikes could quickly resurface.
LEADERSHIP had earlier reported that the federal government has assured that the Crude-for-Naira initiative would continue for as long as it aligns with public interest and supports the national economy.
The assurance followed a meeting of the Technical Sub-Committee on the Crude and Refined Product Sales in Naira initiative chaired by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun.
Our correspondent had reported that the sale of crude oil and refined petroleum products in naira to local refineries commenced on October 1, 2024, aimed at bolstering supply, save the country of the much-needed hundreds of millions of dollars in petroleum products imports, and ultimately reducing pump prices.
On March 10, 2025, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) however altered the supply initiative until 2030, having reportedly sold all its crude in advance.
In response the Dangote Petroleum Refinery on March 19, announced a temporary halt on the sale of petroleum products in naira.
This, the company said, was ‘necessary to avoid a mismatch between our sales proceeds and our crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently denominated in U.S. dollars.’
“It stated that the Crude and Refined Product Sales in Naira initiative is a key policy directive designed to support sustainable local refining, bolster energy security, and reduce reliance on foreign exchange in the domestic petroleum market.
“The Committee acknowledges that implementation challenges may arise from time to time. However, such issues are being actively addressed through coordinated efforts among all relevant parties. The initiative remains in effect and will continue for as long as it aligns with the public interest and supports the national economy,” it noted.
