Posted by Samuel on Fri 03rd Oct, 2025 - tori.ng
According to Oshiomhole, the union would have dealt with the refinery without shutting down the country’s oil sector.
Senator Adams Oshiomhole, representing Edo North and former Labour Congress leader, stated that the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria could have handled its dispute with Dangote Refinery in a different manner.
According to Oshiomhole, the union would have dealt with the refinery without shutting down the country’s oil sector.
Oshiomhole made this known in an Arise TV interview on Friday.
He noted the union was right in protecting a particular set of workers; however, it should not have been done in a manner which affected the jobs of others and threatened the Nigerian economy.
The 10th National Assembly senator said PENGASSAN will not have shut down the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and other critical oil sectors in the country because of its feud with Dangote Refinery.
“I think that in seeking to protect a particular set of workers, you do not then risk the jobs of several other workers. When you are pursuing a dispute, the tools you deploy must be such that they do not undermine other people’s jobs.”
“In pursuing war, you have to recognise that the tools you deploy must not hurt innocent people, like the tomato sellers who cannot get fuel to move their goods because there is a quarrel between one refinery and one union,” Oshiomhole said.
Recall PENGASSAN had downed tools for two days over a feud with the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery for sacking 800 workers.
The union had directed its members to cut crude gas supply to Dangote Refinery until the refinery sacked workers for belonging to the union.
However, following the intervention of the Federal government, the strike was suspended with a truce reached between PENGASSAN and Dangote Refinery.