The Dangote Group has accused the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) of engaging in acts of “terror” against Nigerians, describing the union’s strike order as “lawless.”
The allegation comes after PENGASSAN directed its members to withdraw services from Dangote Refinery and other operations across Nigeria, according to a statement issued by the management on Sunday.
According to the company, the union issued a release to its members on 27 September 2025, instructing that “all PENGASSAN members working across field locations are to withdraw services effective 06.00hrs on Sunday, 28th of September 2025” and that “all PENGASSAN members across all offices, companies, institutions, and agencies should withdraw all services effective 00:01 on Monday, 29th of September 2025.”
The release also demanded that “all processes that involve gas and crude supply to Dangote Refinery should be let off effectively immediately” and that “all IOC branches must ramp down gas production and supply to Dangote Refinery and petrochemicals.”
The Dangote Group stated that the strike poses a threat to the supply of essential petroleum products, including kerosene, petrol, diesel, cooking gas, and aviation fuel, which are crucial for hospitals, schools, emergency services, and transportation systems.
The company warned that PENGASSAN “cares little if at all about the unbearable hardship and terror it would thereby inflict on all Nigerians, including but not limited to the provision of essential services in our hospitals and medical facilities, schools (nursery and right up to tertiary and research institutions), emergency services, communications facilities, transportation systems, etc.”
The union justified its action by claiming that Dangote Refinery had “taken a unilateral action to sack over 800 members of our Association for joining PENGASSAN,” alleging that the company enslaves “Nigerian workers” and had sacked “all Nigerians working in the refinery and” hired “over 2,000 Indians.”
The company responded: “Assuming that was a fact, which it is not, would that justify the terror and guerrilla tactics that the Association is now unleashing on Nigerians?
“Would that justify holding over 230 million Nigerians to ransom by cutting off their essential supplies of petroleum products – kerosene, cooking gas, petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, amongst others? Would that justify threatening the lives of persons, including infants and aged persons, who need the petroleum products and attendant necessities for their life-support systems in the hospitals, in care homes, etc.”
“The oligarchs in PENGASSAN have proved themselves to be terrorists and have turned the Association into a bully organization. It is time they be called to order,” the company said.
It added that “PENGASSAN’s terrorist tactics must be defeated by the Nigerian people.”
Dangote Group strongly refuted the claims that it sacked all Nigerian workers and employed over 2,000 foreigners, stating: “These are all lies that have been consistently debunked by Dangote Refinery, including in its recent release of 26 September 2025 which was in response to these same lies that PENGASSAN has been peddling.
“In that release, we pointed out that ‘over 3,000 Nigerians continue to work actively in our Petroleum Refinery’ and that ‘we continue to recruit Nigerian talent through our various graduate trainee programs and experienced hire recruitment process.’”
The company added that a recent reorganization within the refinery had resulted in the discharge of “a very small number of staff” and that the process “is not arbitrary” but “being carried out in the best interest of the Refinery.”
Dangote Group further accused PENGASSAN of a history of sabotaging national projects, including the 2007 opposition to the Federal Government’s sale of the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries.
The company also questioned the union’s financial accountability, saying: “We challenge both PENGASSAN and NUPENG to publish for the Nigerian public, within 7 (seven) days of this publication, their respective 10 (ten) years audited accounts, failing which they should permanently bury their heads in shame.”
The group warned that PENGASSAN’s threatened actions could compromise Nigeria’s energy security and economic recovery.
“An injury to Dangote Refinery by PENGASSAN, ‘is an injury to all’. The Association and its allies and confederates must not be allowed to inflict that insufferable injury on Nigerians; they must be called to order by the Nigerian State and its people. PENGASSAN and its cohorts must not be allowed to introduce chaos and mayhem into the Nigerian society. They must not be allowed to threaten the lives of Nigerians – especially but not only the ordinary, vulnerable and helpless ones amongst us,” the statement concluded.
