The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has stopped paying the monthly salaries of engineers who were disengaged in September following its dispute with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), deepening tensions in an already sensitive labour crisis in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
According to industry sources, the salary stoppage affected engineers who were offered redeployment to other Dangote-owned projects but declined the offer. These locations reportedly included Zamfara, Borno, Benue, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, and Ebonyi states.
The affected workers said they were initially assured by PENGASSAN that the matter would be resolved through dialogue, which influenced many of them to reject the redeployment letters. The engineers, who spoke anonymously due to the sensitive nature of the matter, claimed that some colleagues were redirected to coal mining operations in Benue State, concrete road construction projects in Borno and Ebonyi states, and rice processing plants in Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, and Zamfara states.
Industry insiders confirmed that the Dangote Group first reduced the wages of the affected workers in October 2025 as a warning sign. By November, their salaries were completely withheld. Some of the staff accepted the redeployment, but many others refused, citing security concerns and inconsistencies in the deployment letters.
A senior official of the Dangote Group confirmed that the company would no longer pay workers who rejected the redeployment offers. The official, who requested anonymity due to lack of authorisation to speak publicly, argued that the company had done its part by offering alternative roles.
According to him, those whose services were terminated were given opportunities to work in other projects such as rice mills, coal mines, and road construction. He said those who accepted the redeployment were already at their new duty posts.
“If a media organisation terminates the services of a worker and still offers alternative employment, it cannot be expected to continue paying someone who refuses to take up that opportunity,” the official stated.
The dispute dates back to September 2025 when PENGASSAN shut down oil and gas facilities over allegations that about 800 refinery workers were sacked for indicating interest in joining the union. On the other hand, the Dangote Refinery maintained that only a few workers were dismissed, describing the action as a reorganisation aimed at removing individuals accused of sabotage.
The shutdown led to nationwide disruptions in oil and gas production and affected power generation before the Federal Government stepped in and directed that the affected workers be redeployed.
In October, the engineers were invited to collect new engagement letters from the Ikeja office of Dangote Projects Limited. One of the letters was titled “Offer of Trainee Engagement” and offered a role as Engineer Trainee (Mechanical Engineering) for a coal project in Okpokwu, Benue State. The letter required the engineers to report within 14 days and undergo two years of classroom and hands-on training.
However, several engineers raised serious concerns. They said the redeployment letters did not include clear office addresses to report to. Some also said that when they searched for the project offices online, they found no verifiable locations. They added that the states they were posted to are widely perceived as security hotspots.
The workers also claimed there was an earlier understanding that they would be posted to oil and gas assets owned by the Dangote Group, and that their salaries would continue until all issues were resolved.
They described the salary stoppage as victimisation, noting that their October wages were reduced and their November wages were not paid, even though other staff continued to receive their salaries.
Speaking on the matter, the President of PENGASSAN, Festus Osifo, said the union was still engaging the Dangote Refinery through dialogue. He explained that the National Executive Committee of the union had resolved to continue negotiations instead of returning to industrial action.
Osifo said the union preferred “jaw-jaw” rather than confrontation but warned that PENGASSAN would not shy away from defending its members if dialogue fails.
A senior management official of the Dangote Group said the company respects the rights of the union to make demands but also insisted that the company has the right to make business decisions.
As negotiations continue, the affected engineers said they are trapped between losing their means of livelihood and accepting redeployments they consider unsafe and unclear. The impasse has left hundreds of families uncertain, while the wider oil and gas sector watches closely to see whether the dispute will be resolved without another nationwide shutdown.
