The industrial dispute between the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has spiralled into a full-blown crisis, with the refinery publicly accusing the union of attempting to cause “mayhem and chaos” that could lead to “anarchy.”
The refinery’s fiery response Saturday, the 27th of September 2025, comes just hours after PENGASSAN issued a directive ordering its members across multiple oil and gas companies to immediately cut off all crude oil and gas supplies to the facility.
Dangote’s Stance: A Brazen Display of Lawlessness
In a scathing statement released late Friday, the refinery’s management did not mince words, characterizing the union’s action as an unprecedented display of illegality.
“This is a brazen, albeit shocking, display of lawlessness and criminality by PENGASSAN,” the statement read.
The refinery drew attention to the union’s explicit instructions to its branches—including those at TotalEnergies, Seplat, Chevron, Oando, Shell Nigeria Gas (SNG), and NGIC—to halt supply valves and stop vessel loading operations immediately.
The Charge: Economic Sabotage and Anarchy
The core of Dangote’s argument rests on three points:
- Contractual Interference: The refinery argues PENGASSAN has no legal right to interfere with the supply contracts between Dangote and its third-party vendors. Disrupting these contracts, they assert, is a criminal conduct.
- Abandonment of Law: Dangote pointed out the hypocrisy of PENGASSAN’s earlier promise to pursue “legal actions,” only to swiftly abandon the courts for “mob action and the path that leads to mayhem and anarchy.”
- National Sabotage: The refinery escalated the issue, stating the directive amounts to “economic sabotage at multiple levels.” By ordering the shutdown, PENGASSAN is directly attempting to disrupt and stop the flow of vital refined products—including petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, and cooking gas—to Nigerians, potentially inflicting “insufferable hardship” on the populace.
The statement concluded by questioning whose interest the union is serving by directing such a “criminal disruption” upon Nigerian society.
This high-stakes standoff now pits a major union defending workers’ rights against the nation’s most crucial industrial project, which is fighting to protect its operations by invoking the threat of national economic collapse.
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