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The absorption of Dangote Refinery has accused the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) of spreading falsehoods and unleashing what it described arsenic “terror tactics” successful bid to execute its nationwide onslaught action.
Recall that PENGASSAN, successful a directive issued connected Saturday, September 27, 2025, ordered its members to retreat services crossed the country. The national instructed lipid and state workers to chopped crude and state proviso to Dangote Refinery and halt operations successful each companies, institutions, and agencies from Sunday, September 28.
The national justified the enactment by alleging that Dangote Refinery had sacked implicit 800 Nigerian workers for joining PENGASSAN, and replaced them with much than 2,000 Indian workers. It said the onslaught was indispensable to support Nigerian employees and halt what it described arsenic exploitation.
But, successful a connection titled ‘Lawless PENGASSAN: It’s lies and panic tactics,’ released connected Sunday evening, September 28, 2025, and posted connected its authoritative Facebook page, Dangote Refinery rejected the allegations, describing them arsenic “complete falsehood” and an effort to sabotage Nigeria’s vigor security.
According to the company, much than 3,000 Nigerians remained employed successful the refinery, continuously recruiting done postgraduate trainee schemes and experienced prosecute programs. It admitted that an interior restructuring led to “a precise tiny number” of unit being discharged but insisted the workout was not arbitrary.
“Over 3,000 Nigerians proceed to enactment actively successful our petroleum refinery,” the connection read. “We proceed to enlistee Nigerian endowment done our postgraduate trainee programs and experienced prosecute recruitment process. The ongoing reorganisation has affected lone a precise tiny fig of staff, and the workout is not arbitrary but successful the champion involvement of the refinery.”
The institution accused PENGASSAN of prioritising authorities implicit people’s welfare, informing that the onslaught enactment would disrupt the proviso of indispensable fuels.
“Would that warrant holding implicit 230 cardinal Nigerians to ransom by cutting disconnected their indispensable supplies of kerosene, cooking gas, petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel? Would that warrant threatening the lives of infants and aged persons who request petroleum products for life-support systems successful hospitals and attraction homes?” it asked.
Dangote refinery besides accused the national of having a way grounds of frustrating reforms successful the lipid and state industry.
The connection recalled that successful 2007, PENGASSAN and its ally, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), opposed the merchantability of the Port Harcourt and Kaduna Refineries to Blue Star Consortium, a woody led by the Dangote Group. The institution said hindsight had vindicated the sale, portion the unions “wrote their names connected the incorrect pages of history.”
“When successful 2007 the Federal Government sold its moribund refineries successful Port Harcourt and Kaduna to Blue Star Consortium led by Dangote Group astatine US$750million, it was this aforesaid bully Association, PENGASSAN and its co-travellers of whom is the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (“NUPENG”), that vociferously sabotaged the process. It is present evident to everyone that the FGN’s determination astatine the clip was the close 1 and that PENGASSAN and NUPENG ignominiously wrote their names connected the incorrect pages of history,” the connection read.
It further alleged that PENGASSAN supported the “purported rehabilitation” of Port Harcourt Refinery, which Nigerians aboriginal discovered to beryllium a failed project. The refinery besides faulted the union’s absorption to amendments of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which would person allowed the authorities to restructure associated task assets and pull backstage investment.
“More recently, PENGASSAN, with its co-travellers loudly celebrated the purported rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery. Nigerians present cognize that the purported rehabilitation was a ruse and that PENGASSAN was knowingly celebrating a scam connected Nigerians. PENGASSAN has besides been successful the forefront of opposing the amendment of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 successful a mode that would let the Federal Government to restructure the equity holdings of immoderate of its upstream Joint Venture assets and thereby supply much-needed liquidity for the Government portion injecting private-sector backing and expertise for the absorption of the assets. This is reminiscent of the inglorious relation of the aforesaid PENGASSAN and its allies successful aborting the merchantability of the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries successful 2007.”
The refinery challenged PENGASSAN to relationship for workers’ contributions, alleging misuse of funds.
“Apart from feeding the lavish lifestyles of the Association’s oligarch...
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