The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has directed its members across the country to withdraw their services in response to the alleged dismissal of over 800 Nigerian workers by Dangote Refinery.
Following an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on Saturday, September 27, 2025, the union issued a circular signed by its General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, condemning the refinery’s actions. The statement accused the company of breaching Nigerian labour laws, the Constitution, and international labour standards by sacking employees for being members of the union.
PENGASSAN further claimed that the refinery replaced the terminated Nigerian workers with more than 2,000 Indian nationals—a move the union described as “a direct insult to Nigerian workers.”
To press home its demands, the NEC ordered members in operational locations to begin withdrawing services from Sunday, while a full nationwide shutdown across offices, companies, institutions, and agencies would take effect from Monday.
The circular stated:
“All PENGASSAN members in field locations are to cease operations from 06:00 hours on Sunday, September 28, 2025, and begin a 24-hour prayer session. This includes shutting down control rooms, panels, and field operations.
“Effective 00:01 hours on Monday, September 29, 2025, all members in offices, companies, institutions, and agencies are to completely withdraw their services.
“No operations will resume at any field location unless there’s a threat to the safety of personnel or critical assets, and even then, only with express approval from the National Secretariat.”
