BREAKING: PENGASSAN declares nationwide strike, orders shutdown of operations

...Directs members to cut off crude, gas supply to Dangote Refinery

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has announced the commencement of an indefinite nationwide strike, effective 12:01 a.m. on Monday, September 29, 2025.

The decision followed a resolution of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on Saturday, where members vowed to confront what they described as blatant disregard for Nigeria’s labour laws by the management of Dangote Refinery.

In a statement signed by its leadership, PENGASSAN directed all members in field locations, including control room operators, panel staff, and outfield personnel, to begin withdrawal of services from 6:00 a.m. on Sunday, September 28, 2025. The directive also included a continuous prayer vigil, calling on God “to compel those in authority to rein in Dangote and his co-travellers on the need to obey Nigeria’s law.”

The communiqué stressed that the strike would be total, with no intervention allowed in operations except in cases of worker safety or asset protection, which must be cleared by the National Secretariat.

“All processes that involve gas and crude supply to Dangote Refinery are to be halted immediately,” the statement declared, adding that international oil companies were to ramp down production and suspend supply to the refinery and its petrochemical unit.

PENGASSAN emphasised that the strike would extend across all companies, agencies, and institutions where its members operate, warning that “no man is bigger than our country; an injury to one is an injury to all.”