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PENGASSAN-Dangote rift widens over salary suspension
Dangote Refinery Halts Salaries of Sacked Engineers Amid Redeployment Dispute, PENGASSAN Seeks Peaceful Resolution
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has stopped the monthly salaries of engineers affected in the September labour dispute with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), www.cjsoftflix.com has gathered.
The stoppage is linked to the refusal of many of the disengaged engineers to accept redeployment to various Dangote projects across Zamfara, Borno, Benue, Sokoto, and other states. While a few workers reportedly accepted the new postings, the majority rejected them, relying on assurances from PENGASSAN that the crisis would be resolved through dialogue.
How the Salary Crisis Began
Investigations revealed that the company first issued a warning in October by slashing the wages of the affected workers before completely halting their November salaries.
A senior Dangote Group official confirmed the development, arguing that the company cannot continue paying workers who rejected the alternative roles offered to them.
He said: “Those whose services were terminated were offered opportunities in our other projects – rice mills, coal mines, and concrete road construction. Those who accepted have resumed. If an employee refuses alternative placement, why should the company keep paying salaries?”
Affected workers, however, described the action as “victimisation,” insisting there had been an earlier agreement—facilitated by government intervention—that their salaries would continue until the dispute was resolved.
PENGASSAN Engages Dangote Group, Avoids Fresh Strike
PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, during a recent briefing, confirmed that the union was still engaging the Dangote Refinery management to resolve the outstanding issues.
Osifo stated: “There are pending issues. The NEC decided to continue with dialogue. We hope these matters will be resolved at the negotiation table so we don’t return to industrial action.”
He hinted that the union is committed to constructive engagement but will not hesitate to act if talks break down.
Workers Reject Redeployment Over Safety and Logistics
Many of the redeployment letters, issued in October under the title ‘Offer of Trainee Engagement’, posted engineers to locations they consider unsafe, including:
- Coal project in Okpokwu, Benue
- Concrete road construction sites in Borno and Ebonyi
- Rice mills in Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, and Zamfara
The engineers raised several concerns:
- The letters provided no specific office address or reporting location.
- Some of the states are considered security hot spots.
- Google Maps searches showed no Dangote project offices at the stated locations.
- The letters warned that failure to report within 14 days would result in automatic termination.
Workers told www.cjsoftflix.com that accepting such letters would amount to “self-termination” since there was nowhere to report to.
Background: The September Shutdown
In September, PENGASSAN shut down several oil and gas facilities nationwide after alleging that 800 Dangote refinery workers were sacked for joining the union.
The Dangote Refinery denied the claim, stating that only a few workers were dismissed for “sabotaging operations” and described the action as part of an internal reorganisation.
The shutdown caused significant national losses in oil production and power generation until the Federal Government intervened and directed that the affected workers be redeployed.
Current Stalemate
The dispute has now reached a critical point:
- Workers insist the company breached an agreement to continue salary payments.
- Dangote Group insists it cannot pay workers who reject redeployment.
- PENGASSAN wants negotiations to continue to avoid another nationwide crisis.
Some engineers disclosed that they were initially promised redeployment to Dangote-owned oil and gas facilities—not coal mines or rice plants—raising further concerns about the sincerity of the offer.
As negotiations continue, the affected workers remain stuck between losing their livelihoods and accepting deployments they consider unsafe, irregular, or procedurally flawed.
www.cjsoftflix.com will continue to monitor this developing labour crisis and provide timely updates as discussions progress.
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