By Taofeek Lawal

Copyright tribuneonlineng

The nationwide strike declared by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has crippled operations in Abuja, with key oil and gas institutions — the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) — under lock and key.

The union’s National Executive Council (NEC) had last week directed members to shut down crude oil and gas supply to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery over the alleged dismissal of 800 workers who attempted to unionise.

In a memo to branch chairmen in major oil firms including TotalEnergies, Chevron, Oando, Shell Nigeria Gas, Renaissance and Seplat, PENGASSAN General Secretary, Comrade Lumumba Okugbawa, ordered the suspension of crude loading operations to the refinery.

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“We bring you fraternal greetings from the National Secretariat. As you are aware, the management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery has disengaged our members in reaction to their exercise of the constitutional right to unionise.

“They have further embarked on a campaign of misinformation and propaganda to justify this illegitimacy, rather than engaging meaningfully with us to right the wrong,” Okugbawa stated in the memo.

There was full compliance at the NMDPRA when Nigerian Tribune visited the office located at the Central Business District (CBD) directly opposite the National Mosque, as it was under lock and key.

When contacted, the Director, Public Affairs at NMDPRA, George Ene-Ita, in a WhatsApp chat with our correspondent, while confirming the compliance, said, “Yes, senior staffers in compliance with the Union directives have stayed away from the office today.”

It was the same situation at the NUPRC headquarters at Jabi, as the main entrance was manned by security personnel on duty who prevented staff from gaining entry into the Commission.

Staff of different organisations in the oil and gas sector were seen barricading the entrance to the NNPCL facilities, singing solidarity songs like ‘Dangote must obey’, ‘what we know is that he must obey’, ‘there’s unity for us in the struggle for our union’, ‘moving forward, forward ever, backward never’.

Nigerian Tribune also observed a banner tied to the gate (of the NNPCL) with the inscriptions such as ‘We stand together as one’, ‘Dangote reinstate our members now’, ‘We say no to abuse of workers’ right’, ‘We reject oppression of Nigerian workforce’, ‘Nigerian workers are not second-class citizens’, and so on.

There are indications, however, that the government has summoned the warring parties to a roundtable talk to find a final solution to the imbroglio moving forward.