A fresh labour crisis is looming in the oil and gas sector as the management of Dangote Refinery has dismissed all its Nigerian workers barely 24 hours after they joined the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
The development, which has sparked outrage across the industry, was confirmed on Friday by the PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo.
“Yes, it is true. We saw the letter late last night. I can assure you that they will recall all of them,” Osifo told journalists.
Political analyst, Imran Wakili, had earlier broken the news on X, alleging that 90 per cent of the refinery’s Nigerian staff had signed up with the union before their sudden dismissal.
According to him, a memo dated September 25, 2025, and signed by the refinery’s Chief General Manager of Human Asset Management, Femi Adekunle, described the decision as part of a “total reorganisation” following reported sabotage in several units of the refinery.
The directive ordered the affected workers to surrender all company property and obtain clearance, while the finance department was tasked with computing their entitlements in line with existing employment terms.
Although the management thanked the workers for their contributions, industry watchers believe the move is targeted at unionisation efforts, a matter that has remained a sore point between oil unions and the refinery.
It would be recalled that the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) had recently embarked on a solidarity strike over the issue but suspended it after federal government intervention.
Dangote Refinery had secured a temporary court injunction barring industrial action, but with the order now expired, fears of renewed unrest in the sector have heightened.
Union leaders are insisting that the refinery must reinstate the dismissed staff, warning that failure to do so could trigger wider industrial actions capable of crippling the nation’s petroleum supply chain.
