PENGASSAN vs. Presidency: Dangote Dust-Up Ignites Fresh Battle

By: Abudu Olalekan

Talk about a political dust-up! Vice President Kashim Shettima, he stepped right into it, publicly condemning PENGASSAN for their industrial action against the Dangote refinery. But the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria? They’re not backing down. Not a bit. They’ve already told Reportersroom, in no uncertain terms, they’ll do it again if their members get sacked. Again.

See, this whole thing started because PENGASSAN claimed Dangote refinery let go of 800 workers. Why? Because these folks joined the union. That’s their story. Dangote, on the other hand, says, “Nope, it was only a few workers, and they were sabotaging the facility.” Part of a reorganisation, they said. But oil and gas workers, they went on strike. In defence of their colleagues, of course. This caused some real headaches nationwide. Losses in oil and gas production, even a dip in power generation. Pretty serious stuff.

The Federal Government, to their credit, jumped in. Quick. They got PENGASSAN to suspend the strike on a Wednesday. The Dangote Group was asked to redeploy those sacked workers to other business units. Crisis averted? Maybe not quite. Even after the strike ended, which had caused those pesky queues at filling stations, cooking gas prices, they’re still sky-high. Like N2,000 per kg in Lagos and other places. Still. It’s supposed to be around N900. Something ain’t right.

Now, Shettima, he didn’t mince words. Speaking at the 2025 Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, he went all out to defend Dangote. “Aliko Dangote is not an individual; he’s an institution,” the Vice President declared. He’s “a leading light in Nigeria’s economic parliament.” And how we treat this man, he stressed, determines how outsiders judge us. Think about it. If Dangote had put his $10bn somewhere else, like Microsoft or Amazon, he’d be worth a lot more, perhaps $70 to $80bn by now. But he chose Nigeria. His country. So, Shettima argued, we owe it to future generations to “jealously protect, promote, preserve, and protect the interests of this great Nigeria.”

He called for caution. For retrospection. For “a deeper sense of patriotism” from both labour and the private sector. “It’s not about holding the whole nation to ransom because of a minor labour dispute.” His message was loud and clear: “Nigeria is greater than PENGASSAN. Nigeria is greater than each and every one of us.” Boom. A direct challenge.

But PENGASSAN’s National President, Festus Osifo, wasn’t having it. He quickly retorted, speaking to Reportersroom, “Of course the nation is bigger than PENGASSAN, the way it’s bigger than Dangote and the Presidency.” He didn’t back down. Not an inch. Their mandate? To protect the jobs of their members. And that mandate, he insists, will be discharged whenever the need arises. No apologies. Should this exact same event occur again tomorrow, he stated plainly, their approach will be exactly the same. When asked if the government might just dissolve PENGASSAN for threatening energy security, Osifo’s response was pointed: “Does the law prohibit workers’ right to strike?” A valid question, don’t you think? General Secretary Lumumba Okugbawa added his own rhetorical jab: “Is Nigeria not bigger than any individual or institution?”

Meanwhile, over at the Nigerian Economic Summit, the talk was all about growth. The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, spoke of reforms. Fuel subsidy removal, foreign exchange deregulation. Tough choices, but laying the foundation for stability. GDP growth is looking up, apparently. The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, echoed the sentiment. “Talk is cheap,” she said. Time for results. The NESG chairman, Olaniyi Yusuf, warned that how we treat domestic investors, it sets the tone for foreign ones. This whole PENGASSAN-Dangote thing? Not helping that image. “Nigeria must say clearly: we will protect, not picket, investors,” he urged.

Adding another layer to this drama, some folks in Kaduna staged their own protest. Scores of them, carrying placards like “Protect Local Refining” and “End Fuel Import Cartel.” They accused PENGASSAN of… well, sabotage. They called them a “well-connected oil importation cartel” trying to frustrate Nigeria’s own refinery. One leader, Igwe Ude-Umanta, called it “economic terrorism.” He even drew parallels to Kaduna’s once-thriving textile industry, now gone. “They want to replicate that in our petroleum sector,” he warned. They demanded the government protect the refinery. They even suggested PENGASSAN’s leadership should be arrested. Strong words.

But the drama isn’t just external. The national body of PENGASSAN reportedly dissolved its Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company (NGIC) and Nigerian Gas Marketing Limited (NGML) chapter. Why? For failing to shut off gas supply to Dangote refinery during the strike. Talk about a harsh penalty! The unit, they appealed the dissolution. “Shock and dampened spirit,” they wrote in a formal petition. They tried, really they did. But operational hazards, heavy security personnel, they got in the way. Technical issues, like faulty emergency shutdown valves, continuous gas injection. They couldn’t risk lives. They never even claimed a “total shutdown” of gas, just tried to reduce pressure. Someone, it seems, rushed to deliver “good news” to the national president. They want their officials reinstated. They believe they “did more than enough.”

Then, Dangote Petroleum Refinery stepped up to thank President Tinubu. His “timely intervention” averted their “disruptive actions.” They specifically thanked key security chiefs and ministers, calling them patriots. And those “disruptive actions” by PENGASSAN? Dangote called them the work of “anarchists and agents of darkness.” Ouch.

So, where does this leave us? The engineers sacked by Dangote are still waiting for their redeployment letters. PENGASSAN is resolute, its internal structure facing turmoil. The Presidency is firm. And some citizens are accusing unions of sabotaging the national interest. The battle lines are clearly drawn. This isn’t over. Not by a long shot.