…as independent investigation exonerates Dangote Refinery

The Fair Employment Rights Activists (FERA) has blasted the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) over what it described as “fraudulent, mischievous and hypocritical” claims against the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

PENGASSAN had accused the refinery of terminating the jobs of more than 800 Nigerian workers and replacing them with 2,000 undocumented Indians.

But in a statement on Saturday signed by its president, Comrade Ebikeme Adigio, FERA said its independent investigation found no evidence to support the union’s allegations.

“Our fact-finding mission revealed that expatriates at Dangote Refinery are fully documented, properly accredited and engaged for specialised roles,” Adigio said.

“There is no single proof that Nigerian workers were unlawfully replaced. On the contrary, the refinery has directly and indirectly created over one million jobs in less than a year. That is the truth PENGASSAN does not want Nigerians to hear.”

The activist group went further, accusing some union leaders of lacking both the moral and legal right to challenge the operations of an investment that, according to FERA, is delivering where the union failed.

“Osifo and Okugbawa represent the same structure that supervised the waste of over $4 billion on failed Turn Around Maintenance projects at Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries,” Adigio declared.

“For decades, these men and their colleagues stood by while our refineries rotted away, workers were retrenched, and Nigeria bled under subsidy fraud. Now they rise to play saints? It is the height of hypocrisy. As Fela once sang, animals want to teach us human rights.”

The group also alleged that some of union leaders personally benefited from the subsidy era and patronage appointments.

“We all know that Festus Osifo’s children and cronies were comfortably placed in the NNPCL under Mele Kyari’s reign, feeding fat from subsidy fraud, while young Nigerians were forced into menial jobs in Ghana and Togo. Today, the same people want to lecture a refinery that is creating jobs and dismantling their corrupt pipeline of patronage,” Adigio declared.

FERA argued that the real motive behind PENGASSAN’s attacks was to blackmail the Dangote Refinery and protect vested interests.

“What PENGASSAN failed to tell Nigerians is that their agitation is not about the welfare of workers but about losing control over a sector that they had weaponised for decades. Dangote Refinery is not bound to adopt the union’s corrupt style of business-as-usual, and that is what is making them restless,” the group stated.

“They are not fighting for workers. They are fighting for a corrupt system that Dangote Refinery has disrupted. The union collects 3% of every oil worker’s salary in Nigeria, yet has not built one functional refinery, not even a small modular plant. If they truly cared about employment, why not buy the moribund Port Harcourt refinery and prove they can manage it?”

On the contrary, FERA said Dangote Refinery has proven its commitment to workers and to Nigeria’s economy. It cited the rollout of 8,000 compressed natural gas buses, which it said instantly generated 16,000 jobs in a single day, as well as its broader impact across supply chains.

“The Dangote Refinery should be celebrated, not vilified. It is fighting for the poor, ensuring we are no longer held hostage by subsidy cartels, and creating jobs at a scale Nigeria has never witnessed. PENGASSAN’s lies will not erase these facts,” Adigio said.

The group also rejected the union’s threat to cut gas and crude supply to the refinery, describing it as “nothing short of economic sabotage.”

“It is reckless for a union that squandered decades of goodwill to now threaten to strangle a national asset. This is not unionism; it is sabotage. Nigerians will not allow PENGASSAN to destroy what they never built,” the statement added.

FERA urged government and regulators to resist PENGASSAN’s “blackmail and lies” and protect the refinery from vested interests.

“The truth is simple: PENGASSAN is angry because the party is over. Thanks to President Bola Tinubu, that corrupt regime has ended,” the statement added.

“If PENGASSAN is genuinely concerned about workers’ welfare, let them buy up the moribund Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt refineries, make them work, and employ as many Nigerians as they want. Until then, they should stop blackmailing an investor who is doing what government and unions failed to do for decades.”