Concerning the unionization of its employees, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has implied that it has a score to pay with Dangote Refinery.
In the midst of the continuing conflict between the union and Dangote Refinery, Festus Osifo, the president of PENGASSAN, expressed this stance during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
However, he promised that Nigeria would not experience a shortage of gasoline as a result of the union’s scheduled strike.
Recall that the union had ordered its members to leave the country because the Dangote Refinery was allegedly firing a large number of Nigerian employees.
Osifo acknowledged that PENGASSAN had cut off the refineries’ gas supply, but he made it clear that there would not be an immediate shortage of fuel or a resumption of lines at the gas stations.
Additionally, he demanded that the federal government order the Dangote refinery to stop.
“I would like us to break down the impact. The effect will not result in Nigerians waiting in line to purchase PMS as of today, tomorrow, or even next weekend. It won’t fit in with that.
Indeed, we have stopped supplying gas to refineries, fertilizers, and other facilities as we speak. “Yes, we have done that because we will tell him that we are the goose that laid the golden egg — that we are much crazier if someone says he is crazy,” he stated.
According to reports, the federal government has called both parties to a roundtable conversation in an attempt to find a peaceful solution to the current standoff.
The PENGASSAN leadership and the management of the Dangote Refinery have been invited to attend an emergency meeting at his office on Monday in order to resolve their disagreement, according to information released by Muhammad Dingyadi, the Minister of Labor and Employment, on Sunday.
In response to the offer, Osifo stated on Sunday that PENGASSAN would be present at the planned meeting, but he reiterated that the complete recall of the Dangote Refinery employees is one of their main demands.
“We have been invited to a meeting at the Federal Ministry of Labor tomorrow, and we plan to attend.”
“You cannot send nearly a thousand Nigerians to the streets in that manner because they are exercising their right to unionize,” he continued. “Our position is very clear.”
