The controversy surrounding the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery has intensified, with the Forum of Concerned Nigerian Consumers urging the Federal Government and the Department of State Services (DSS) to step in and stop what they described as “desperate attempts” by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to undermine the refinery.
At a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday, the Forum’s National President, Olabisi Taiwo, accused the oil workers’ union of playing politics with the energy sector after its threat to picket the refinery over alleged mass dismissals.
“The government must send a clear message: industrial blackmail will not be tolerated. The Dangote Refinery is our best chance at energy independence, and we must not allow vested interests to destroy it,” Taiwo stressed.
According to him, Nigeria cannot afford another fuel crisis, pointing out that strikes by oil unions in the past crippled supply, worsened corruption, and reduced state-owned refineries to “relics of mismanagement.”
The Dangote Refinery, the world’s largest single-train facility with a processing capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, was designed as a private sector response to Nigeria’s decades-long fuel scarcity. It currently provides over 3,000 jobs, with management insisting that internal restructuring was a safeguard against sabotage rather than anti-labour activity.
But PENGASSAN, through a circular signed by its General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, accused the company of violating Nigerian labour laws and International Labour Organisation conventions. The union alleged that about 800 workers were dismissed for joining the association.
The circular ordered members nationwide to down tools starting Monday. “An injury to one is an injury to all. No man is bigger than our country,” the union declared.
However, the Forum faulted the union for disregarding a subsisting court order restraining strike action. “Who benefits if the refinery fails? Certainly not the Nigerian people, but fuel importers and rent seekers who profit from chaos,” it warned.
okay.ng reports that the Forum also criticised PENGASSAN’s inflammatory rhetoric, noting that its “witch crying in the night” metaphor was irresponsible and dangerous.
The group called on the Ministries of Labour, Petroleum Resources, and Justice to urgently intervene to prevent fresh hardship for citizens.
