The meeting to resolve the ongoing dispute between the management of Dangote Refinery and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) will continue today at 2 pm.
This is according to a notice by Patience Onuobia, Head of Media and Public Relations of the Federal Ministry of Labour, Employment and Productivity.
The meeting, which started at about 4 p.m. on Monday, September 29 and was chaired by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Mohammed Dingyadi, ended in a stalemate.
It was attended by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkiruka Onyejeocha, and other key stakeholders, including the PENGASSAN leadership, Dangote Refinery management, the Minister of Finance, and directors from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). The meeting lasted into the early hours of Tuesday, September 30.
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PENGASSAN and the Dangote Refinery had been enmeshed in a controversy over unresolved labour issues. PENGASSAN accused the private refinery of allegedly sacking about 800 Nigerian workers after they joined the union. The association directed its members to embark on a nationwide strike, demanding immediate reinstatement of the sacked workers.
The PENGASSAN members barricaded the premises of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), NUPRC and NMDPRA in Abuja on Monday. The controversy has generated concerns about potential fuel crisis as PENGASSAN members disrupted crude oil and gas supply to the Dangote Refinery.
In response, the Dangote Refinery described the move by PENGASSAN as illegal and cautioned the union to follow legal process in seeking redress. It maintained that the union has no legal right to disrupt or interfere with the refinery’s contracts with third-party vendors for crude oil and gas supply.
It also warned about the implication of PENGASSAN’s actions on the Nigerian economy.
The refinery management called on the federal government to and security agencies to intervene and call PENGASSAN to order.
The Federal Government through the ministry of Labour had in a statement on Saturday, called on PENGASSAN to suspend its nationwide strike.
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However, PENGASSAN had defied all pleas and vowed to continue to the nationwide industrial action on Tuesday. In a statement by its General Secretary, Comrade Lumumba Ighotemu Okugbawa, the union denied receiving any court injunction stopping the strike. The statement said the strike would continue until members received further instructions from the national leadership.
“All comrades are therefore directed to continue with the industrial action until further instruction,” part of the statement issued on Monday read.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist, scholar and analyst of socioeconomic issues in Nigeria and Africa. He is skilled in energy reporting, business and economy, and holds a master's degree in mass communication.
