‘You’re not greater than Nigeria’: FG slams PENGASSAN over strike

The Federal Government has condemned the industrial action embarked upon by oil workers under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) following a dispute with Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

The Federal Government, therefore, emphasised the critical importance of the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote refinery, declaring that it must be supported at all costs to succeed.

The government’s position was stated by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the opening of the Nigerian Economic Summit 2025 in Abuja on Monday, October 6, 2025.

Shettima, who described the $20 billion facility as a national asset that must be supported to function, said: “Aliko Dangote is not an individual, he’s an institution, and he’s a leading light in Nigeria’s economic parliament.

“How we treat this gentleman will determine how outsiders will judge us. If he had invested $10 billion in Microsoft, in Amazon, or in Google, he probably might be worth $70 to $80 billion by now.

Nigeria’s oil output falls by 16% during PENGASSAN strike – NNPCL

“But he opted to invest in his country, and we owe it to future generations to jealously protect, promote, preserve, and protect the interests of this great Nigeria.

“I wish to call for caution, retrospection, and a deeper sense of patriotism from both labour and the organised private sector in defining and improving the relationship between labour and industry in the interest of maintaining our steadily improving economic fortunes.

“It’s not about holding the whole nation to ransom because of a minor labour dispute.

“Nigeria is greater than PENGASSAN. Nigeria is greater than each and every one of us. I’m not coming to you as a partisan.”

The Star