…Accuse PENGASSAN, NUPENG Of Plot To Introduce Corruption Into Private Refinery
…Urge Attorney General Of The Federation To Order Thorough Probe Of Union’s Financial Activities In The Last 10 Years
In a present of unprecedented unity throughout Nigeria’s numerous ethnic landscapes, distinguished {groups} from the North, South-West, South-East and South-South have thrown their weight behind the Dangote Refinery’s current choice to put off over 800 staff amid escalating labour tensions.
The {groups} underneath the aegis of One Nigeria Movement (ONM) held emergency conferences in Kaduna, Lagos, Enugu and Port Harcourt respectively to accuse the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) of orchestrating a sinister plot to infiltrate and corrupt the operations of Africa’s largest non-public refinery.
The pan-Nigerian solidarity comes as PENGASSAN’s nationwide strike, declared on September 28, cripples crude and fuel provides to the power, threatening gas shortage and energy outages simply because the nation edges towards vitality self-sufficiency underneath President Bola Tinubu’s reforms.
The disaster, which has gripped the nation’s oil and fuel sector for weeks, erupted when Dangote Refinery dismissed the employees on September 25, citing “repeated acts of sabotage” throughout an ongoing reorganization to restore a key gasoline unit shut down in late August.
PENGASSAN and NUPENG, which had earlier secured a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on September 9 permitting voluntary unionization after NUPENG’s preliminary strike risk, declare the layoffs have been punitive retaliation for over 90% of workers becoming a member of their ranks, allegedly changing Nigerians with over 2,000 Indian expatriates in violation of labor legal guidelines and International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions.
Dangote Industries, nonetheless, insists the affected staff numbered far fewer than reported and have been let go to safeguard operational integrity, emphasizing that over 3,000 Nigerians stay in its workforce and that union membership is a protected particular person proper, not a prerequisite for employment.
Federal mediation efforts by the Ministry of Labour and Employment stalled on Monday, with talks set to renew right this moment amid fears of broader {economic} fallout, together with halted truck loadings and potential blackouts from thermal plant shutdowns.
In Kaduna, the Arewa Youth Forum decried the unions’ actions as a “deliberate assault on Northern economic aspirations.”
Led by convener Malam Idris Suleiman, the AYF framed the layoffs as a “defensive necessity to block infiltrators intent on reviving subsidy-era corruption in a private enterprise.”
Suleiman accused PENGASSAN and NUPENG of exploiting the MoU to “embed racketeers who siphoned billions from public refineries through ghost contracts,” warning that their strike threatens the refinery’s function in stabilizing the naira and curbing inflation, now beneath 20% for the primary time in years.
“The Arewa Youth Forum unequivocally supports Dangote Refinery’s layoffs to purge saboteurs, safeguarding Northern hopes for economic revival.
“We accuse PENGASSAN and NUPENG of scheming to implant corrupt syndicates into this private enterprise, echoing their subsidy thefts, and urge Attorney General Lateef Fagbemi to launch an EFCC probe into their financial dealings from 2015 to 2025 to expose illicit gains.”
In Ibadan, the Oduduwa Peace Advocates (OPA) endorsed Dangote Refinery’s sackings as a “bold stand against labor-induced corruption.”
The high-level caucus, attended by over 120 Yoruba leaders, condemned PENGASSAN’s strike escalation on Monday, which halted area operations, as an “attack on Yoruba entrepreneurial spirit.”
OPA spokesperson Chief Tunde Afolabi highlighted the refinery’s function in strengthening Lagos-Ibadan commerce corridors, now in danger from union-driven gas shortages that would spike transport prices by 30%.
OPA traced the dispute to deliberate sabotage linked to the August gasoline unit failure, costing $100 million in repairs, and accused unions of utilizing the MoU to “plant cronies mirroring NNPCL’s $20 billion subsidy heists.”
Afolabi praised Bola Tinubu’s deregulation, which has attracted $50 billion in upstream investments, and dismissed PENGASSAN’s claims of anti-Nigerian layoffs as “propaganda to mask their greed,” noting the refinery’s 3,000-strong Nigerian workforce.
