PENGASSAN orders nationwide strike over mass sack of members by Dangote Refinery
By Eberechi Obinagwam
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has directed its members across the country to withdraw their services from 12:01 a.m. on Monday.
The decision was taken after an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Saturday, September 27, 2025, following the alleged mass sack of over 800 Nigerian workers by Dangote Refinery.
In a statement signed by PENGASSAN’s General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, the union accused the refinery of unfair labour practices, including replacing the sacked Nigerians with over 2,000 foreign workers.
The union described the action as “an affront to Nigerian workers, a violation of Nigeria’s Constitution, labour laws, and international labour standards.”
According to the statement, Dangote Refinery’s notoriety for enslaving Nigerian workers, and the eventual sack of all Nigerians working in the refinery and hiring of over 2,000 Indians, is a show of disloyalty to a country that has given him the most incentives any company has ever enjoyed in Nigeria, at taxpayers’ expense.
It added that the company has subjected Nigerians to the worst type of working conditions in the oil and gas industry.
“No man or company, no matter how highly placed, is above the law and cannot be called to order by the national institutions.
“The over 800 staff whose jobs have been given to Indians, and their families are Nigerians and victims was made to suffer unjustly and there is an urgent need to avoid setting a dangerous precedence,” the statement reads.
Pressing its demand, the NEC directed: “All PENGASSAN members in field locations to down tools from 6:00 a.m. on Sunday, September 28, 2025.
“A total nationwide shutdown by all members across offices, companies, institutions, and agencies from 12:01 a.m. on Monday, September 29, 2025.
“Immediate suspension of all crude oil and gas supply to Dangote Refinery and its petrochemical operations.
International Oil Companies (IOCs) to ramp down gas production linked to the refinery.”
The union also declared that members would embark on 24-hour prayers, calling on authorities to intervene and compel Dangote Refinery to respect Nigeria’s labour laws.
PENGASSAN vowed that the strike will continue until the sacked workers are reinstated, warning: “An injury to one is an injury to all. No man is bigger than our country.”
