Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has attributed the ongoing dispute between Dangote Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to a “gap in communication.”
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, the 29th of September, 2025, he advised both parties to hold direct talks in order to iron out differences and prevent escalation.
The governor highlighted the contrasting ways unions are managed in private companies compared to government-owned entities. According to him, the approach used by Dangote Group is not the same as that of state-run industries, which often results in misunderstandings.
Sule commended the federal government for stepping in, stressing that the refinery project has become a national asset rather than just a private venture. He said:
“The Dangote refinery in Nigeria is not for Dangote alone, It’s for Nigerians right now. It has saved Nigeria so many issues, so many challenges, so many problems. Nigeria may no longer be worried about what they call, you know, turnaround maintenance, where billions of dollars were being spent.
“Nigeria may no longer worry about all the ports were filled up. Therefore, the ships bringing, you know, petroleum products could not pass. And as a result, you do that. Nigeria will no longer be worried, you know, about fertiliser, petrochemical. So many things. And that’s the reason why the company was built by Dangote but today it’s bigger than Dangote, you know, it’s for Nigeria as a whole.”
He appealed to all sides to avoid litigation and work in unity: “I will actually appeal, you know, to PENGASSAN, as well as the Dangote management and the federal government to ensure that this is resolved without even going to court, because these are partners that are going to work together for a very long time.
“Dangote refinery is here to stay. And it is not only for Nigeria right now, it’s exporting petroleum products to so many other countries around the world. You know, and for that reason, we cannot afford to have any challenge with that institution.”
Reflecting on his own experience at Dangote Sugar Refinery, Sule explained that his management style differed from that of government-owned Savannah Sugar, where union engagement was more rigid.
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“If I’m going to approach it, you know, from the point of what is the solution, I think the first is where the government has intervened right now. But after resolving it, we have to draw a timetable. I will give you an example. When I was running the Dangote Sugar refinery, the way it was being run with unions was quite different from the government-owned Savannah Sugar was being run at the time. You know, so because the way we managed unions was different from the way they were managing at Savannah.
“We were managing unions, we were members, our staff are not too deeply involved with union activities to where they will become chairman or members or this because we had work to do, it’s quite a different kind of work.
“But whatever the unions agreed to, the benefits that will be given to the union members, they were given exactly that, sometimes even more than what the unions were asking.
“That’s the way it was run before and that’s why we didn’t have much problems. So I think that’s why I say there is a gap of communication.”
Sule concluded by warning against weakening such a critical establishment: “So the PENGASSAN as of today needs to sit down with Dangote clearly to understand this because we can’t afford a situation to run down an institution such as this. In fact, the world will laugh at us.”