The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has condemned the plan by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to halt crude supply to the refinery.
The management of the refinery described the planned action as a “brazen, albeit shocking, display of lawlessness and criminality” by PENGASSAN.
It said the union lacked the right to direct its branches to “cut off” gas and crude oil supplies to the refinery.
“This is a brazen, albeit shocking, display of lawlessness and criminality by PENGASSAN. Absolutely no law gives PENGASSAN the right to direct its branches to “cut off” gas and crude oil supplies to Dangote Refinery or at all. There is also no law in our statute books that would support or enable the PENGASSAN branches having to ‘cut off’ gas and crude oil supplies to Dangote Refinery or at all,” it stated on Saturday.
The statement partly read, “Those supply contracts were not entered into with PENGASSAN; they were entered into by Dangote Refinery with third party vendors and suppliers and PENGASSAN has no right whatsoever to disrupt and/or interfere with the performance of those contracts.
“Perhaps, PENGASSAN needs to be reminded that Nigeria is a country governed by laws. Our laws do not brook self-help and mob action that could introduce mayhem and chaos and easily translate into anarchy. Indeed, this is a complete disavowal of PENGASSAN’s press release of the same 26 September 2025, which claimed that the association “will take all necessary legal actions” to challenge the Dangote Refinery actions that it purports have led to its illicit and criminal “directive”.
“It is instructive that no sooner had the Association issued the Press Release than it abandoned the path of lawfulness and embraced criminal conduct and the path that leads to mayhem and anarchy by issuing the directive aforementioned.”
The Dangote refinery also claimed that the association’s directive amounts to economic sabotage at multiple levels, as the products that would be disrupted and stopped include but are not limited to aviation fuel, petrol, kerosene, diesel, and cooking gas.
It warned that the production and supply of essential petroleum products supplied by the refinery would cease “if the PENGASSAN cabal” is allowed or permitted to enforce its “lawless and criminal ‘directive’”.
“We are, by this write-up, drawing the attention of the Federal Government and its security and law enforcement agencies – as well as all other levels of governments in Nigeria to this criminal, lawless, reckless, and irresponsible conduct of PENGASSAN and calling on them – the Federal Government and its agencies, in particular – to call the association to order. The association must not be allowed to ride roughshod over Nigerians. The repercussions from the PENGASSAN directive would affect and inflict harm on all Nigerians,” the statement added.