Former Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) president and serving senator, Adams Oshiomhole, has criticised the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) for escalating its dispute with the Dangote Refinery into a nationwide shutdown of oil facilities, describing the move as hasty and unfair.
Speaking during an interview with Arise Television on Friday, Oshiomhole stressed that while unions have the right to defend workers, such actions must not jeopardise the livelihoods of other Nigerians or destabilise the wider economy.
“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,” he said.
Oshiomhole condemned the decision to extend the shutdown beyond Dangote Refinery to facilities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and other oil firms, noting that it immediately triggered long queues at filling stations across the country.
“People came to me to ask why they could not work or get fuel, and the reason was that PENGASSAN had shut down NNPC and several other companies, all because of a problem in one refinery,” he added.
Citing his experience as NLC president, Oshiomhole explained that industrial disputes should be targeted at specific employers and not generalized across an entire sector. He recalled a past labour battle with Union Bank of Nigeria, where the dispute was limited to the bank and not extended to the entire financial industry.
He further cautioned against indiscriminate strike actions that hurt ordinary Nigerians.
“In pursuing war, you must recognise that the tools you deploy must not hurt innocent people—like tomato sellers who cannot transport their goods because fuel is unavailable due to a quarrel between one refinery and one union,” he said.
While reaffirming the importance of union rights, Oshiomhole emphasised the need for balance and responsibility.
“Freedom of association is not just a constitutional right, it is a God-given right. But with that freedom comes responsibility. Both the employer and employee must exercise their rights in a way that is fair,” he noted.
He urged patience with new private sector investors like Dangote, warning that excessive labour pressure at an early stage could weaken businesses and threaten jobs.
“An employer has to exist, mature, and be strong enough to guarantee good-paying jobs. If you cripple a business before it finds its feet, you are also destroying the jobs you claim to protect,” he warned.
The Dangote Refinery, inaugurated in May 2023, is Africa’s largest single-train refinery with a processing capacity of 650,000 barrels per day. PENGASSAN had, last month, directed members to shut down operations nationwide in protest against alleged anti-labour practices at the facility—a move that sparked fuel shortages and drew criticism from government officials and industry stakeholders.
