Energy Blues: Why Dangote Refinery really fired workers over unionisation –Report

*An unnamed process engineer at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, in Lagos, alleges several anti-Labour practices, claiming the unionisation situation at the oil-refining company escalated after circulation of reports that as Nigerian workers received ‘modest pay increases’, the Indian expatriates’ salaries were doubled from ‘$13,000 to $26,000 per month’

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

A technical staff of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery has said the genesis of the alteration between the company and the disengaged employees originated from their joining the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) for unionisation and equal rights with their expatriate colleagues in the oil-refining facility.

ConsumerConnect gathered that the personnel, a process engineer, who asked his name not to be mentioned, disclosed that hitherto, several senior staff of Dangote Refinery had avoided union activity because they signed agreements to not join any workers’ union before they got employed.

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According to the staff, following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that lifted such restrictions, PENGASSAN approached the company again.

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The engineer also alleged Dangote Refinery workers were being denied several rights, ranging from poor salaries, lack of promotion, no healthcare (HMO) arrangement to poor safety conditions of employees.

It was gathered that during PENGASSAN’s first visit, some staff members in the Refinery explained that they did not have much to remit to a union from time to time.

PENGASSAN also told them that the company was not working in line with international standards.

The staff engineer also said: “They (Dangote Refinery) told us oil and gas workers have international standards of pay and that by joining, we could push for similar benefits.

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“The first day they asked us to join, about 900 signed. Within two hours, 1,000 people had signed. The Management was shocked.”

Still, things took a new turn, according to the engineer, as the situation escalated after the circulation of reports that as Nigerian workers received modest pay increases, the Indian expatriates’ salaries were doubled from $13,000 to $26,000 per month.

“That was the genesis of the matter.

“Shortly after, workers were taken home at the end of a shift and informed the next day that they had all been sacked,” the engineer told FIJ.

Earlier, the Federal Government had announced that it brokered peace between the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and PENGASSAN.

Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi, Honourable Minister for Labour and Employment, said the Nigerian Government was able to resolve the industrial dispute after lengthy discussions.

Dingyadi, who disclosed this development Wednesday, October 1, 2025, in a statement, however, restated that unionisation remains the workers’ right in the economy, and such should be respected.

The statement noted: “The Honourable Minister of Labour informed the meeting that unionisation is a right of workers in accordance with the laws of Nigeria, and this right should be respected.

“After examining the procedure used in the disengagement of workers, the meeting agreed that the Management of Dangote Group shall immediately begin the process of redeploying the disengaged staff to other companies within the Dangote Group, with no loss of pay.”

The government said: “No worker will be victimised arising from their role in the impasse between Dangote and PENGASSAN.

“PENGASSAN agreed to start the process of calling off the strike. Both parties agreed to this understanding in good faith.”

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