The Federal Government has resolved the labour dispute between the Dangote Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), averting a strike that threatened fuel supply stability.
Following two days of negotiations on Monday and Tuesday, both parties agreed that over 800 disengaged workers would be reabsorbed into other Dangote Group subsidiaries without loss of pay.
The conciliation meeting was convened by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi, after PENGASSAN directed members to cut gas supply and withdraw services from the refinery in protest against the mass disengagement.
The session was attended by the National Security Adviser, the Ministers of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Labour and Employment, and State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), as well as the Directors-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
In his remarks, Dr. Dingyadi emphasised the need to uphold workers’ rights. “The right of workers to unionise in accordance with Nigerian law must be respected,” he said.
A communique issued after the meeting highlighted three resolutions:
- Reabsorption of workers: Disengaged staff will be reassigned within the Dangote Group without pay cuts.
- No victimisation: Neither party will penalise workers for their roles in the dispute.
- Strike suspension: PENGASSAN will commence the process of calling off its strike directive.
The communique stressed that all parties entered the agreement “in good faith.”
The standoff had raised fears of disruptions to fuel supply and power generation. The Federal Government earlier assured Nigerians of “stable and uninterrupted fuel supply” despite the crisis.
With this resolution, industrial peace has been restored, though analysts caution that deeper labour relations challenges in the oil and gas sector remain unresolved.
