Probe PENGASSAN Over Attempt To Shut Down Dangote Refinery- Consumer Forum Urges FG, DSS
Tamenor Kwaghzer
Sep 29, 2025 07:26
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The Concerned Nigerian Consumers Forum has called on the Federal Government and the Department of State Services (DSS) to probe what it described as “desperate attempts” by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to disrupt operations at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, warning that the union’s threats could undermine Nigeria’s drive toward energy independence.
In a statement jointly signed by its President, Comrade Olabisi Taiwo, and Secretary, Dr. Justice Akani Alikor, the Forum alleged that PENGASSAN’s plan to picket the $20 billion refinery over alleged mass sackings amounts to economic sabotage capable of plunging the country back into fuel scarcity, instability, and public embarrassment.
The group accused the union of pursuing an agenda that places vested interests above national interest. It recalled that PENGASSAN, alongside the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), allegedly contributed to the collapse of Nigeria’s public refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna through resistance to reforms, opposition to privatization, and repeated strike actions.
“Their actions over the years helped turn the refineries into relics of corruption and mismanagement,” the Forum stated.
The Dangote Refinery, with an installed capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, is the world’s largest single-train facility. Positioned as a private-sector solution to Nigeria’s decades-long dependence on imported petroleum products, the refinery is expected to stabilize fuel prices, generate jobs, and strengthen the economy.
The Forum maintained that the refinery remains committed to Nigerian workers, employing more than 3,000 staff with ongoing recruitment. It explained that the company’s recent restructuring was prompted by acts of sabotage that threatened operations, not anti-labour practices as alleged.
It further faulted PENGASSAN’s threat to defy a subsisting court order restraining industrial action at the refinery, describing it as “union overreach” and a violation of the rule of law.
“Who benefits if the refinery fails? Certainly not Nigerians, but fuel importers and rent seekers who thrive on chaos,” the Forum declared, while also condemning what it described as reckless and divisive rhetoric from union leaders.
The Forum urged the Ministries of Labour, Petroleum Resources, and Justice to urgently intervene to protect the refinery from disruption, stressing that the government must send a clear message that “industrial blackmail will not be tolerated.”
It reaffirmed support for the refinery as a national asset. “Nigerians have suffered enough from fuel queues and economic hardship. The Dangote Refinery represents our best chance at energy independence, and we must not allow vested interests to destroy it,” the statement read.
