Before the recent labour dispute between the Dangote Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) escalated, insiders said the company had proposed paying dismissed workers their full salaries for five years without requiring them to work.
A Surprising Offer
According to sources familiar with the closed-door talks, management raised the offer out of fear of sabotage. By keeping the workers on payroll but out of the refinery, executives hoped to eliminate potential security risks.
“Dangote offered to pay the sacked workers for five years to remain at home or pursue other activities. They would receive monthly salaries but stay away from the refinery because of concerns they could sabotage operations,” one source said.
Government officials, however, reportedly worried about the long-term financial burden. Still, refinery executives argued the trade-off was safer than retaining employees they no longer trusted.
Despite this, PENGASSAN rejected the option and pressed for redeployment within the broader Dangote Group.
Union Pushback
When contacted, PENGASSAN General Secretary Lumumba Okugbawa said the union concentrated on the eventual deal, not on discarded proposals.
“Negotiation is about compromise. What matters is what both sides finally agreed to, not the proposals that were rejected,” he said.
Some critics suggested redeployment could move workers to remote locations, forcing resignations. Okugbawa dismissed those claims as speculative, stressing that members were expected to resume wherever they were reassigned.
He compared the union’s role to mediating a family quarrel: “After you help resolve the matter, the husband and wife go back to live together. We want harmony, not enmity. What matters is that workers have their jobs back.”
Sack and Fallout
On September 25, Dangote Refinery terminated several employees, accusing them of repeated sabotage that threatened safety and disrupted operations.
In a letter signed by Femi Adekunle, Chief General Manager of Human Asset Management, management described the dismissals as necessary to protect the refinery’s stability.
“This exercise is not arbitrary. It has become necessary to safeguard the refinery from repeated acts of sabotage that raised safety concerns and disrupted efficiency,” the letter stated.
PENGASSAN responded by ordering members nationwide to cut gas supply to the refinery and threatened a nationwide shutdown starting midnight September 28. The union accused management of unfairly targeting Nigerian workers while retaining foreign staff.
Dangote Group countered that the strike directive was illegal and insisted PENGASSAN lacked authority to interfere in contracts with third-party crude and gas suppliers.
Government Intervention
The dispute quickly drew federal attention. On September 28, Labour and Employment Minister Muhammad Dingyadi urged PENGASSAN to suspend its planned strike.
By the next day, union members picketed major regulators in Abuja, shutting down access to NNPC Limited, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
That same day, the National Industrial Court in Abuja issued an interim order restraining PENGASSAN from cutting crude and gas supply to the refinery.
Agreement Reached
Negotiations continued through the week, first at the Ministry of Labour and later at the Office of the National Security Adviser. By the early hours of October 1, both sides reached a settlement.
The agreement reaffirmed Nigerian workers’ legal right to unionise. Dangote Group is committed to reassigning the dismissed employees to other companies within the conglomerate without loss of pay. Both sides also pledged that no worker would face retaliation over the crisis.
At a press briefing in Abuja, PENGASSAN President Festus Osifo announced the suspension of the strike. He warned, however, that the union would resume action without notice if management breached the deal.
