Nigeria’s flagship Dangote Petroleum Refinery, the largest single-train refinery in Africa, has been thrust into crisis after the country’s most powerful oil union ordered a dramatic suspension of crude oil and gas supply to the $20 billion facility.
The standoff, which erupted this week, threatens to cripple a refinery widely seen as Nigeria’s most important industrial project and a critical stabilizer for the nation’s fragile economy.
Union vs. Management: The Core Dispute
At the heart of the showdown is a bitter labor dispute. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) accuses the refinery’s management of “anti-worker practices,” claiming that over 800 Nigerian employees were unlawfully dismissed after joining the union.
In a fiery statement, PENGASSAN alleged that those dismissed are being replaced with foreign workers — predominantly from India — in what the union calls a blatant violation of Nigeria’s labor laws and local content policy.
“The unilateral action to sack over 800 members of our Association for joining PENGASSAN is an affront to all workers in Nigeria,” the union declared.
The union has since directed members in major International Oil Companies (IOCs) and across the industry to halt crude and gas supplies to the refinery, threatening to choke its operations.
Dangote Pushes Back
Dangote Industries Limited has rejected the allegations outright, labeling the union’s strike order as “criminal, reckless, and an act of economic sabotage.”
Refinery management insists the actual number of layoffs is far lower and maintains that the dismissals were part of an internal reorganization aimed at safeguarding operations against sabotage.
Officials warned that a full-scale supply cut could disrupt the distribution of petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, and cooking gas nationwide, sparking a return to fuel scarcity and further pressure on the already weakened naira.
Government Scrambles to Mediate
With public anxiety mounting, the Nigerian government is rushing to defuse the crisis. The Minister of Labour and Employment has summoned both parties to an emergency meeting on Monday, urging PENGASSAN to suspend its strike action.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has ordered its energy and labor committees to intervene, stressing the refinery’s strategic importance to Nigeria’s energy future.
Not all labor voices back the strike. The Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), a unit of NUPENG, dismissed the union’s threat as “empty” and urged authorities to protect the refinery at all costs.
A Test for Nigeria’s Economic Backbone
The Dangote Refinery, commissioned in 2023, is designed to process 650,000 barrels per day and is central to Nigeria’s long-term energy independence strategy. Seen as a symbol of African industrial might, the project carries both economic and political weight for the continent’s largest oil producer.
But for now, its future hangs in the balance — between a union flexing its power to defend workers’ rights and a corporate behemoth fighting to protect a $20 billion bet on Nigeria’s future.
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