The management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery has accused the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) of lawlessness, economic sabotage, and criminality following a directive allegedly issued by the union ordering its branches to cut off crude oil and gas supplies to the refinery.
Dangote Refinery Statement
In a strongly worded statement on Saturday, Dangote Refinery condemned the instruction, which was reportedly communicated on September 26 to several PENGASSAN branches, including those at TotalEnergies, Seplat, Chevron, Oando, Shell Nigeria Gas, and NGIC. The directive allegedly called for an immediate shutdown of all crude oil supply valves to Dangote Refinery and the halting of vessel loading operations.
Dangote management described the move as “a shocking display of lawlessness and criminality,” insisting that no law grants PENGASSAN the authority to interfere in commercial contracts between the refinery and its suppliers.
“Those supply contracts were not entered into with PENGASSAN; they were entered into by Dangote Refinery with third-party vendors and suppliers. PENGASSAN has no right whatsoever to disrupt or interfere with the performance of those contracts,” the statement read.
The company warned that the directive, if implemented, would amount to economic sabotage and pose severe hardship to Nigerians, as it could disrupt the supply of petroleum products such as petrol, diesel, kerosene, cooking gas, and aviation fuel. It stressed that the refinery is currently the only one of its kind in Africa and qualifies as a strategic national asset.
“This reckless instruction is a direct assault on the Nigerian people. It threatens one of the country’s largest contributors to national revenue and could undermine investor confidence in the oil and gas sector,” Dangote Refinery said.
Calling on the Federal Government and security agencies to intervene, the refinery urged authorities to prevent the union from “introducing anarchy and mayhem” into the country’s energy supply chain. The company further reminded PENGASSAN of its earlier press release promising to pursue “necessary legal actions” against the refinery, arguing that the union must “live up to its commitment” and not resort to what it described as illicit and disruptive tactics.
“The repercussions from the PENGASSAN directive would affect and inflict hardship on all Nigerians. This is therefore a fight for all Nigerians,” the refinery added.
