The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has rejected claims of a peace deal with Dangote Refinery.
The came hours after PENGASSAN called off the nationwide strike it declared over a face-off with Dangote Refinery.
In late September, Dangote Refinery terminated over 800 workers, citing “reorganization” amid sabotage allegations. PENGASSAN called it an attack on workers’ rights.
Following the face-off between Dangote Refinery and PENGASSAN, the Federal Government intervened, holding a two-day peace meeting with the officials of the two parties.
After the two-day meeting, the Federal Government was able to broker a peace between the two parties, leading to PENGASSAN calling off its nationwide strike and Dangote Refinery agreeing not to sack the 800 workers.
However, clarifying the details of the agreement, PENGASSAN denied signing any peace deal with Dangote Refinery.
Appearing on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Thursday, PENGASSAN president, Festus Osifo, said the document presented at the meeting was not an agreement.
“If you see that communiqué, we did not sign it. Normally, it is supposed to be signed by three parties. We did not sign because we felt that some things in it were not okay with us,” he said.
Osifo stressed that the statement was not a confirmation of a peace deal with Dangote, adding that it was only a communication from the Minister of Labour and Employment, acting as chief conciliator.
“When we subjected it to our NEC, we had to decide on priorities. Some media houses claimed we were only interested in check-up dues.
“That is false. What we prioritised was how our members would return to work and provide for their families.”
The union president said PENGASSAN’s position was clear: “Take the people back to the refinery.”
He added that Dangote initially refused to reabsorb the disengaged workers until the government pushed for a compromise.
Osifo dismissed Dangote’s claims of sabotage by the sacked employees.
He emphasised that the union’s fight was not about itself but about Nigerian workers whose employments were abruptly terminated for exercising their right to association.
“The release that Dangote made on workers sabotaging the economy was totally incorrect. If we had allowed that sabotage tag to stand, those 800 people would not be able to secure jobs in the future.
“That stigma would remain forever,” he lamented, noting that “Clearing that was a very big win. We are not perturbed in any way.”
The PENGASSAN boss added, “If Dangote does not do the needful, our tools are always available. We will never get tired of struggling for what is right. We have been around for 50 years before the Dangote Refinery came on stream.”
Meanwhile, some of the workers affected by the decision of the Dangote Refinery have begun to voice out their ordeals.
One of the affected workers, who is a process engineer at the Dangote Refinery, said many are frustrated over poor conditions, stagnant pay, and lack of safety measures.
The worker who spoke on the condition of anonymity claimed that Dangote Refinery did not care about its workers and their health, adding that many had nothing like an HMO plan.
He said: “All the while, no promotion. The 25 per cent salary increase only came in January after BUA raised its staff salaries by 50 per cent for the third time, even though inflation has gone up by almost 300 per cent since I joined.”
The engineer also accused Dangote Refinery of treating expatriate workers, some with little experience, better than Nigerian staff. “We are the ones who train them when they arrive, but after a while, they are made our bosses,” he said.
“They say we have HMO, but in reality, we don’t. The clinic drugs are of poor quality, imported, and ineffective, so most of us still buy medicines with our small salaries. They tell the world they provide good healthcare, but it’s not true.
“We also don’t get real allowances. There’s a section in our salary slip called ‘others’. Before, it was just N1,000. After the increment, it became N54,000. But everything we need — like PPE or allowances — comes from ‘others’. That’s not sustainable.
“We work 12 to 13 hours with no breaks, but they deduct one hour from our overtime pay as if we took a break. Out of four hours’ overtime, we are only paid for three,” he explained.
According to this Dangote staff member, engineers earn about N400,000 monthly, including overtime. After taxes and deductions, take-home pay can fall below N200,000.
“We are even taxed on allowances like birthdays or overtime. Out of N500,000, you could be taxed as much as N164,000.
“For years, hazard allowance was just N1,000. Later they added N54,000 to our salary and called it ‘others’. When we asked, they said every allowance we feel entitled to is inside that N54,000,” he said.
These allegations have been denied by the management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery
In a statement, Dangote Refinery: said:“Over 3,000 Nigerians continue to work actively in our Petroleum Refinery at present. Only a very small number of staff were affected, as we continue to recruit Nigerian talent through our graduate trainee programmes and experienced hire recruitment process.
“The foregoing decision was taken in the best interest of the refinery as a result of intermittent cases of sabotage in the various units of the refinery with dire consequences on human life and related safety concerns. We remain vigilant to our internal systems and vulnerabilities to ensure the long-term stability of this strategic national asset. It is imperative to protect the refinery for the benefit of Nigerians, our partners across Africa, and the thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on it.”
