A major confrontation is brewing between one of Nigeria’s most powerful unions and Africa’s largest oil refinery, following the controversial termination of hundreds of Nigerian workers.
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has threatened to picket the Dangote Refinery, alleging the company sacked over 800 workers for joining the union. The union further claims the refinery is simultaneously employing over 2,000 Indian nationals, many of whom it says lack valid documentation.
The dispute centres on a starkly different narrative from each side. PENGASSAN insists the sackings are a direct retaliation for unionisation, while Dangote Refinery management maintains it is a necessary safety reorganisation to root out “repeated acts of sabotage.”
The controversy ignited when a letter, reportedly from the refinery’s management and dated Thursday, September 25, 2025, surfaced online. It informed “all staff” that their services were “no longer required” effective immediately, citing “many recent cases of reported sabotage” that posed “major safety concerns.”
However, PENGASSAN’s General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, presented a different timeline. He alleged that the workers had just completed the process of joining the union on Thursday, following a directive from the Federal Government. After management conducted a headcount and discovered the new union members, the termination letter was issued.
“When the witch cries in the night and the baby dies in the morning, what do you expect?” Okugbawa stated rhetorically. “They said they wanted to reorganise. Is it only the expatriates that will do the reorganisation? All the over 2,000 expatriates from India were asked to continue with their jobs.”
Okugbawa accused the company of violating the Labour Act and the Trade Union Act, calling the move a “blatant disregard for the rights of Nigerian workers” and a “troubling trend towards the marginalisation of Nigerian workers in favour of foreign labour.”
In a sharp rebuttal, the Dangote Refinery issued a statement calling the reorganisation “not arbitrary.” It said the decision was taken to “safeguard the refinery from repeated acts of sabotage” that risked human life and operational efficiency. The company asserted that only a “very small number of staff were affected” and that over 3,000 Nigerians remain employed.
The refinery strongly denied the sackings were linked to union membership, stating, “Our commitment to workers’ rights is unwavering… [We uphold] the right of every worker to freely decide whether or not to join a union.”
This incident is the latest in a series of labour disputes for the refinery, which was recently blockaded by the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) over similar unionisation issues. The refinery has since obtained a court injunction preventing unions from blocking its facilities, setting the stage for a potential legal and industrial standoff.
PENGASSAN has scheduled an emergency National Executive Council meeting to decide its next move, promising to use “all constitutionally given powers” to challenge the refinery’s actions. The outcome of this dispute could have significant implications for labour relations within one of Nigeria’s most critical strategic assets.
