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PENGASSAN halts strike after government intervention but sets strict conditions
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Threatens immediate resumption if Dangote Refinery fails to reinstate workers
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Federal Government mediators hailed for preventing escalation
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has suspended its strike action but issued a stern warning that the industrial action will resume without notice if the Dangote Petroleum Refinery fails to reinstate 800 sacked workers.
Conditional Suspension
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Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, the Union’s President, Comrade Festus Osifo, said the suspension was taken out of respect for government mediation but stressed it remained strictly conditional.
> “Even with all these misgivings, we will go ahead to suspend the industrial action that we started on Sunday, 28th September 2025,” Osifo declared.
“Remember, we are suspending and we will be waiting, we will be monitoring. Any part of this communique and any part of this agreement as put up by the Ministry of Labour, we will not give any notice, we will not give any warning, we will resume the suspended industrial action immediately.”
READ ALSO: PENGASSAN to Suspend Strike After FG Secures Truce with Dangote Refinery
Call for Compliance
Osifo insisted that the refinery, owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, must strictly comply with the agreement to recall all affected staff.
The Union leader emphasised that failure to comply would plunge the refinery and the oil and gas sector into another round of crippling strike action.
Government Mediation
He commended the intervention of top government officials, including the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, and the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, for brokering a temporary truce.
PENGASSAN’s decision marks a fragile pause in a labour dispute that threatens to destabilise Nigeria’s refining sector if unresolved.
