A fresh crisis has hit Nigeria’s oil and gas sector following reports that Dangote Refinery dismissed all its Nigerian workers after they joined the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
The development was confirmed by PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, who is also the President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), in an exclusive interview with DAILY POST on Friday.
“Yes, it is true. We saw the letter late last night (Wednesday). I can assure you that they will recall all of them,” Osifo stated, expressing confidence that the decision would be reversed.
This comes barely 24 hours after DAILY POST reported that the 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote Refinery terminated the appointments of its Nigerian staff over their move to unionise under PENGASSAN.
As of press time, Dangote Group’s spokesperson, Anthony Chijiena, had not responded to enquiries on the matter.
The refinery has been in a prolonged face-off with oil unions, particularly the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), over workers’ rights to unionise. NUPENG had earlier declared a strike, which was later suspended following Federal Government intervention.
Dangote Refinery recently secured an interim injunction to restrain union members from embarking on strike action. However, the order has since lapsed, reigniting tensions in the sector.
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