Oshiomhole Slams PENGASSAN Over Dangote Refinery Rift, Says Strike ‘Ill-Considered’

Former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and current senator, Adams Oshiomhole, has berated the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) over its recent strike action against the Dangote Refinery, describing it as “ill-considered” and damaging to ordinary Nigerians.

Speaking on Arise News on Friday, Oshiomhole acknowledged the unions’ constitutional right to defend workers but argued that shutting down the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other facilities over a dispute with a single employer was unnecessary and harmful to millions.

Background: How the PENGASSAN, Dangote Refinery Dispute Started

The face-off between PENGASSAN and Dangote Refinery began after the refinery dismissed over 800 Nigerian employees, a move the union said was linked to attempts at unionisation.

PENGASSAN alleged that the refinery not only flouted Nigeria’s Labour laws and International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions but also replaced the sacked Nigerians with expatriates, mainly from India.

Dangote management, however, insisted the sackings were linked to “sabotage” in some units of the refinery.

Don’t miss out on any real-time information. Join our WhatsApp group to stay updated.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN

The union responded by shutting down export terminals, blocking vessel loading, and locking offices across the oil and gas sector, creating nationwide fuel queues.

It took marathon negotiations involving the federal government, labour leaders, and security agencies, lasting into the early hours of Wednesday, for the parties to reach a truce. Around 2:30 am, a communique was signed where Dangote Group agreed to reinstate the affected staff.

‘Don’t destroy jobs in the name of protecting jobs’

Reacting to the crisis, Oshiomhole faulted the union for dragging other oil firms into its fight with Dangote.

“In pursuing war, you have to recognise that the tools you deploy must not hurt innocent people, like the tomato sellers who cannot get fuel to move their goods because there is a quarrel between one refinery and one union,” he said.

“An employer has to exist, mature and be strong enough to guarantee good-paying jobs. If you cripple a business before it even finds its feet, you are also destroying the jobs you claim to protect.”

The senator stressed that while freedom of association is a constitutional right, both employers and workers must exercise it responsibly.

“I think that in seeking to protect a particular set of workers, you do not then risk the jobs of several other workers. When you are pursuing a dispute, the tools you deploy must be such that they do not undermine other people’s jobs,” he noted.

Oshiomhole, who represented Edo State as governor and now sits in the 10th Senate, recalled seeing the ripple effect of the strike.

“I suddenly witnessed long queues at filling stations and people came to me to ask, ‘why are we not at work today, what has happened to the oil industry?’ And the reason was that PENGASSAN had decided that NNPC be shut down, several other companies shut down, all because of a problem in one refinery.”

He argued that unions must draw lessons from the past, recalling how disputes under his tenure as NLC President were handled with focus and restraint.

“We had a big battle with Union Bank of Nigeria over their policy on married couples working together. But even when we had the capacity to shut down all the banks, we didn’t. We recognised that the alleged offence of Union Bank could not be said to apply to others,” Oshiomhole explained.

According to him, unions must isolate disputes with individual employers instead of dragging entire industries into shutdowns that deepen hardship for citizens.