The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has clarified that it did not sign the communiqué that ended its nationwide strike against the Dangote refinery.
The union stopped its strike, which began on Sunday, on Wednesday, citing the federal government’s assistance, but maintained that its issues had not been properly addressed.
PENGASSAN accused the refinery of illegally dismissing over 800 Nigerian employees and reportedly replacing them with over 2,000 Indians.
PENGASSAN President Festus Osifo told journalists at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday that if the refineries did not comply with the resolutions, the strike would restart without notice.
Osifo conceded that there were “grey areas” in the communiqué but emphasized that the union had paused the action in good faith.
On Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Thursday, Osifo clarified that the document given at the meeting was not an agreement.
“If you see that communiqué, we did not sign it. Normally, it is supposed to be signed by three parties. We did not sign because we felt that some things in it were not okay with us,” he said.
He also mentioned that the communiqué was merely a statement from the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammadu Dingyadi, who acted as the chief conciliator.
“When we subjected it to our NEC, we had to decide on priorities. Some media houses claimed we were only interested in check-off dues. That is false. What we prioritized was how our members would return to work and provide for their families.”
Osifo stated that PENGASSAN’s position remains that the refinery management should immediately reinstate the sacked workers.
He revealed that Dangote initially refused to reabsorb the disengaged workers until the government intervened and pushed for a compromise, dismissing the refinery’s claims of sabotage by the affected employees.
Osifo further stated that the union’s campaign was not about self-interest but rather about safeguarding Nigerian workers whose jobs were abruptly terminated for exercising their right to association.
He warned that if the concerns were not resolved, PENGASSAN would not hesitate to resume industrial action.
“If Dangote does not do the needful, our tools are always available. We will never get tired of struggling for what is right. We had been around for 50 years before the Dangote Refinery came on stream,” he declared.
“The release that Dangote made on workers sabotaging the economy was totally incorrect. If we had allowed that sabotage tag to stand, those 800 people would not be able to secure jobs in the future. That stigma would remain forever. Clearing that was a very big win. We are not perturbed in any way.”
