The management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery has terminated the employment of many of its workers amid the ongoing rift with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).
The oil unions and Dangote have been recently locked in a series of industrial face-offs over unionisation.
On September 9, 2025, Dangote and NUPENG signed a Memorandum of Understanding after a government-mediated meeting, affirming the refinery workers’ constitutional right to unionise.
However, hours after, the union accused the Dangote Group of bad faith for ordering truck drivers to strip off union stickers and report for loading.
The refinery management and the unions subsequently engaged in heated media exchanges.
In a leaked memo addressed ton” All staff”, Femi Adekunle, Chief General Manager of Human Asset Management, announced the “total re-organisation” at the refinery as a result of recent cases of reported sabotage in different units, leading to major safety concerns.
He said the refinery was constrained to carry out a total re-organisation of the plant.
“As a consequence of this development, we wish to inform you that your services are no longer required, with effect from the eve of Thursday, the 25th September, 2025.”
“Please surrender all the Company’s properties in your possession to your line manager and obtain an exit clearance accordingly but, the date for doing so, will be communicated to you later.
“The Finance Department, by a copy of this letter, is advised to compute all your benefits and entitlements in line with your terms of employment and conditions of service and pay the amount due to you (less all indebtedness), subject to the condition that you have obtained the exit clearance certificate as mentioned above,” the memo read.
An insider at the refinery who confirmed the authenticity of the disengagement letter, stressed that its interpretation had been largely misrepresented.
“Yes, the letter is correct. But the interpretation is wrong. The interpretation is that it affects some people because of certain things discovered in the refinery. It has nothing to do with unionism or anything like that,” the official said.
According to him, the move was designed to plug leakages and protect the company’s assets following repeated acts of sabotage.
“It doesn’t mean they have been sacked. That is incorrect. What was done was to put a check in place. It is more like a clean-up in the system to check where those sabotage and leakages are coming from and then address them. As soon as the issues are addressed, they will be reabsorbed. That is why it is not a sack and that word wasn’t used,” he explained.
He added that the exercise was carried out suddenly to prevent those involved in the alleged sabotage from concealing their actions.
“Some acts of sabotage have been noticed repeatedly and the company is only trying to safeguard its assets. Also, you cannot do things like this and give two weeks’ notice; otherwise, those in the act would cover up and complicate issues,” he said.
The official further clarified that refinery operations were ongoing and that both Nigerians and expatriates were still actively working at the plant.
Festus Osifo, president of PENGASSAN, has assured those affected that the company would reverse the decision.
“Yes, it is true. We saw the latter late last night. I can assure you that they will recall all of them,” he said.
