As Nationwide Strike Begins Today: FG wades into Dangote, PENGASSAN face-off

•Dangote blasts PENGASSAN •Only callback of members tin halt onslaught — PENGASSAN

By Udeme Akpan, Victor Ahiuma-Young, Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Obas Esiedesa & John Alechenu

Indications emerged yesterday that the national authorities is making frantic efforts to resoluteness the feud betwixt Dangote Refinery and PENGASSAN implicit the alleged wide sack of national members and their replacement with Indians.

Already, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, has appealed to PENGASSAN to halt the strike, which began yesterday.

Consequently, members of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, person reportedly been incapable to efficaciously assistance products oregon render different services arsenic a effect of the strike.

But the absorption of Dangote Petroleum Refinery successful its contiguous absorption to the onslaught past night, berated PENGASSAN, accusing the national of decades-long sabotage of Nigeria’s lipid and state assemblage and serving the interests of its leaders, alternatively than mean Nigerians.

Sources told Vanguard that “because of the withdrawal of services by PENGASSAN, NUPENG members person been rendered redundant arsenic each files, documents and approvals needed to facilitate their jobs were not released. So, NUPENG members are practically doing thing due to the fact that of the ongoing strike.”

PENGASSAN insisted yesterday that lone the unconditional callback of each members allegedly sacked by Dangote for joining the national would extremity the strike, and urged the national authorities to intervene and halt the replacement of Nigerian workers with Indians.

FG moves to broker truce

Vanguard gathered that the curate has enactment everything successful spot to get the warring parties to sheath their swords successful the involvement of peace.

A highly placed authorities root said officials from the Ministry of Labour and Employment were probing the contentious issues with the purpose of reaching an amicable resolution.

According to the source, “the ministry is talking with the Dangote Refinery and the enactment of PENGASSAN and, from the discussions, determination is nary alternate to peace.”

Meanwhile, Dingyadi has appealed to PENGASSAN to suspend the strike, disclosing that invitations had been extended to some parties to be an exigency gathering successful his bureau contiguous for conciliation.

He urged PENGASSAN to retreat the onslaught declaration to make country for peaceful dialogue.

In a connection issued by Patience Onuobia, Head of Information and Public Relations, the curate said: “The Ministry of Labour and Employment, done the Director of Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations, has invited some PENGASSAN and the absorption of Dangote Refinery to a conciliation gathering successful my bureau connected Monday (today).

“I entreaty to some parties to beryllium mindful of the value of the petroleum assemblage to the country, being the halfway of our economy. A onslaught volition not lone pb to dense gross losses but besides origin hardship for Nigerians. It volition adversely impact economical stableness and nationalist security.”

PENGASSAN insists connected callback of members

PENGASSAN, which connected Saturday directed members nationwide to down tools, pursuing alleged wide sack of implicit 800 Nigerian workers astatine the refinery, maintained that lone the unconditional callback of affected members, including engineers sacked oregon transferred, would extremity the strike.

The national had earlier ordered members to chopped disconnected state and crude lipid supplies to the refinery successful protestation against the alleged victimisation of unionised workers.

General Secretary of PENGASSAN, Lumumba Okugbawa, told Vanguard: “The authorities should beryllium talking to the absorption of Dangote Refinery to callback our members sacked oregon transferred and replaced by Indians. We person made it abundantly wide that lone the unconditional callback of our members, including engineers, volition extremity the strike.

“Freedom of relation and unionism is simply a right, not a privilege, recognised locally and internationally. As you are aware, each tract operations person been directed to retreat services from 6 a.m. contiguous (yesterday). Crude lipid lifting terminals, NLNG operations, lipid and state accumulation platforms, logistics bases, marine bases and different facilities person complied.”

Some PENGASSAN leaders warned that “what Dangote is doin...