The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has pushed back against comments by Vice President Kashim Shettima, who criticised the union’s recent strike over a dispute with the Dangote Refinery, saying it will not hesitate to take similar action again if its members are unfairly treated.
Addressing journalists on Monday, PENGASSAN’s National President, Festus Osifo, said the union stands by its decision to defend workers’ rights, adding that “the nation is bigger than Dangote and the Presidency.”
“Of course the nation is bigger than PENGASSAN, the way it’s bigger than Dangote and the Presidency. We have a mandate to protect the jobs of our members, that we will discharge whenever the need arises,” Osifo said.
He emphasised that if similar circumstances arose again, the union’s response would be identical. “Should this same event occur again tomorrow, our approach will be exactly the same,” he declared.
PENGASSAN’s reaction came after Vice President Shettima, while speaking at the opening of the 2025 Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, defended Africa’s richest man, describing him as “an institution and a leading light in Nigeria’s economic parliament.”
“Aliko Dangote is not an individual; he’s an institution,” Shettima said. “How we treat this gentleman will determine how outsiders will judge us… He opted to invest in his country, and we owe it to future generations to protect and promote his interests.”
PENGASSAN’s industrial action, which began last week, had shut down several key oil and gas facilities following allegations that the Dangote Refinery sacked over 800 workers who joined the union. Dangote Group, however, denied the claim, saying only a few employees involved in “acts of sabotage” were affected as part of an internal restructuring.
The strike, which caused disruptions in oil and gas production and worsened fuel shortages across several cities, was suspended after government intervention and an agreement to redeploy the affected workers to other business units.
Despite the suspension, fuel queues have persisted, while the price of cooking gas remains high, averaging ₦2,000 per kilogram in Lagos and other cities, compared to the pre-crisis price of about ₦900.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to supporting domestic production and industrial harmony to sustain economic growth.
