The nationwide strike launched by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has shut down operations across Abuja. Key institutions in the oil and gas sector — the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) — were all locked.
Accourding to Nigerian Tribune, Last week, the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) ordered members to halt crude oil and gas supply to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. The directive followed the alleged dismissal of 800 workers for attempting to unionise.
In a memo sent to branch chairmen in major oil companies such as TotalEnergies, Chevron, Oando, Shell Nigeria Gas, Renaissance, and Seplat, PENGASSAN General Secretary Comrade Lumumba Okugbawa instructed members to suspend crude loading operations.
Okugbawa noted, “The management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery has disengaged our members for exercising their constitutional right to unionise. Instead of resolving the issue, they have launched a campaign of misinformation to justify their illegitimate actions.”
At the NMDPRA headquarters in Abuja’s Central Business District, offices remained locked when Nigerian Tribune visited. Public Affairs Director George Ene-Ita confirmed in a WhatsApp chat that staff complied fully with union directives.
Similar scenes were recorded at the NUPRC headquarters in Jabi, where security officials barred staff from entering. At NNPCL facilities, union members barricaded the gates, chanting solidarity songs such as “Dangote must obey” and “Forward ever, backward never.”
A large banner at NNPCL’s main gate carried inscriptions including “We stand together as one,” “Reinstate our members now,” “No to abuse of workers’ rights,” and “Nigerian workers are not second-class citizens.”
Meanwhile, indications suggest that the federal government has invited both sides to a roundtable discussion in a bid to resolve the crisis.
