•Aliko Dangote
There is a brewing crisis in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector after a leaked memo surfaced indicating that the management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery has terminated the employment of all its workers for allegedly joining the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
The leaked memo, sighted by our correspondent and shared on X by a political commentator, Imran Wakili, was addressed to all the staff of the 650,000bpd refinery, reports Nigerian Tribune.
According to the memo, signed by Femi Adekunle, Chief General Manager of Human Asset Management, the decision was taken as “total re-organisation” following “recent cases of reported sabotage in different units of the Petroleum Refinery leading to major safety concerns.”
The memo added that the Refinery is “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 added.
However, Wakili claimed in the X post that the development comes less than 24 hours after 90 percent of them joined PENGASSAN.
Dangote Refinery and NUPENG are currently embroiled in a dispute over direct distribution of fuel across the country, Tribune Online reports.
Reacting, President of PENGASSAN, Festus Osifo, who doubles as the president of Nigeria’s Trade Union Congress (TUC), confirmed the development to Daily Post but assured that the company would reverse the decision.
“Yes, it is true. We saw the letter late last night (Wednesday).
“I can assure you that they will recall all of them,” he said.
However, Dangote Refinery has yet to issue a statement confirming or denying the memo as of the time of filing this report.
