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The Federal Government has successfully facilitated a resolution in the conflict between the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), after two days of reconciliation talks.
A statement released in the early hours of Wednesday by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi, confirmed that the matter had been settled after extended discussions.
As outlined in the statement, the agreements reached included: “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.
“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.”
The government team present at the meeting comprised the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Dingyadi; the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu; the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Barrister Nkeiruka Onyejeocha; the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Adeola Ajayi; and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed.
The earlier session held on Monday between PENGASSAN and the Dangote Refinery’s management to resolve the dispute had ended without a breakthrough.
That meeting, which began around 4 p.m., continued into the early hours of Tuesday but failed to yield an agreement.
Following the deadlock, Dr Dingyadi announced that discussions would resume at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
The reconvened meeting, which started around 3:50 p.m. at the Office of the National Security Adviser, extended into the early hours of Wednesday, at which point both parties reached a resolution.
The disagreement had originated from allegations made by PENGASSAN, accusing the Dangote Refinery of engaging in mass redeployments and dismissals of union members, as well as replacing some Nigerian employees with foreign nationals—accusations the company had repeatedly denied.
The Federal Government stepped in out of concern for the potential negative effects the conflict might have on the national economy and the country’s energy security.
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