The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has declared a nationwide strike beginning Monday, in protest against the alleged dismissal of more than 800 Nigerian employees by Dangote Refinery.
In a circular issued after an emergency National Executive Council meeting on Saturday, September 27, 2025, and signed by General Secretary Lumumba Okugbawa, the union accused the refinery’s management of violating Nigeria’s labour laws, the Constitution, and International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions by sacking workers for joining PENGASSAN.
The association directed its members across all chapters to immediately withdraw their services, vowing that the strike would continue until the workers were reinstated and labour rights fully respected.
The NEC alleged the refinery had replaced the dismissed staff with “over 2,000 Indians,” calling the action “an affront to all workers in Nigeria.”
To press its demands, PENGASSAN directed members in field locations to down tools from Sunday, and ordered a total nationwide shutdown across offices, companies, institutions, and agencies from Monday.
The letter reads in part, “All PENGASSAN members working across field locations are to withdraw services effective 06:00hrs on Sunday, 28 September 2025 and commence 24-hour prayers. This includes all control room operations, panel operations, and outfield personnel.
“All PENGASSAN members across all offices, companies, institutions, and agencies should withdraw all services effective 00:01 on Monday, 29th of September, 2025.
“No intervention whatsoever will be entertained across field locations except where the safety of personnel and assets is at risk; such clearance must be obtained from the National Secretariat.
“All processes that involve gas and crude supply to Dangote Refinery should be let off effectively immediately,
“All IOC branches must ramp down gas production and supply to Dangote Refinery and petrochemicals.”
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The NEC further announced 24-hour prayer vigils and appealed for government intervention, declaring the strike will continue until the dismissed workers are reinstated.
“An injury to one is an injury to all. No man is bigger than our country,” the circular said.
The refinery has been recently embroiled in a bitter row with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers over labour rights and safety standards.
Multiple reports earlier indicated that this clash began when Dangote refinery, in a letter dated September 24, 2025, ordered the sacking of some staff over alleged sabotage that it said threatened the operational safety of the 650,000-barrel-per-day facility.
PENGASSAN put the number of sacked staff at around 800, and called on the labour unions, relevant government agencies, and other stakeholders to intervene, describing the matter as one of “urgent national importance.”
But the company denied mass sacking.
Management said the company was conducting an internal reorganisation to improve efficiency and insisted that the majority of its workforce remained Nigerian.
PENGASSAN’s action, if fully observed, risks disrupting supplies to the refinery and could have broader implications for downstream operations linked to the plant.