The National Industrial Court in Abuja has barred the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and other key industry regulators from halting crude oil and gas supply to Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE.
Justice Emmanuel Subilim, ruling on an ex-parte motion filed by the refinery, granted an interim order restraining PENGASSAN, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Authority, and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission from enforcing a strike or cutting supply to the plant.
The court held that allowing the planned action would cause irreparable harm to the refinery’s operations and disrupt essential services to Nigerians. The order is to subsist for seven days, pending hearing of the substantive motion on October 13.
The dispute arose after Dangote Refinery recently laid off some workers following alleged acts of sabotage at its plant. PENGASSAN, however, accused the company of sacking over 800 employees because of union activities—an allegation the refinery denied, insisting only a small number were affected during a reorganisation.
In a letter to the Minister of Petroleum, PENGASSAN threatened to mobilise members across oil and gas entities to suspend supply to the refinery if the affected workers were not recalled. Dangote’s lawyers argued that such action would cripple a facility built with over $20 billion to address Nigeria’s chronic energy crisis, with grave consequences for the economy.
Justice Subilim, while granting the injunction, stressed that preserving industrial peace and continuous energy supply outweighed the union’s threat of strike.
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