House Committee Disagrees with PENGASSAN Over Dangote Refinery

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The House of Representatives Petroleum Resources Downstream Committee has disagreed with Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, on the sudden shut down of gas and crude oil supply to Dangote refinery without notice.

In a statement on Sunday, September 28, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, chairman of the committee, described the action as “hasty” and warned it “can destabilise the downstream, scare investors, and undermine peaceful resolution” of the conflict.

“This Committee acknowledges the concerns of PENGASSAN; however, it does not approve of the action embarked upon by the Union with their decision to order stoppage of gas supply to Dangote Refinery without notice. This action is hasty and has multiplier effects on the energy needs of Nigerians, plus likely damage to a delicate private sector investment and destabilisation of the search for sustainable peace being championed by the Committee, hence the need for immediate call off of the shutdown directive.”

Consequently, the Committee urges PENGASSAN to suspend the order and participate in the Downstream Committee’s proposed roundtable with Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Dangote Refinery and Labour Ministry to find lasting solution.

The Committee says the ongoing industrial action and order to some of their branches to cut off gas and crude oil supply to Dangote Refinery without exhausting the laid down procedures specified in the Trade Union Act is not appropriate.

 They called on the protesting union to lift the order and allow the use of dialogue to solve the faceoff.

The Committee lamented the likely economic damages which can hurt ongoing efforts to attract investors and build a downstream sector that will be beneficial to the workers, Nigerian people, energy security and a commercially viable and competitive downstream sector.

Ugochinyere argues further, “This decision will scare away foreign investors who will be worried that due process does not count in addressing grievances in the sector, hence the need for the union to return to the table for direct talks to be presided over by the Downstream Committee with regulators, labour ministry and Dangote refinery in attendance to find a working sustainable solution to the challenges.”

 He urged PENGASSAN to end the ongoing action, restore supply to Dangote and allow lawmakers to intervene in the matter in the interest of Nigeria.

He said the committee has reached out to stakeholders for a downstream stability roundtable in order to enable the parties including NMDPRA, PENGASSAN and Nigeria Union of Petroleum, Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and lawmakers to resolve the issues that led to the shutdown order.

Ugochinyere announced that the committee has appointed Akin Rotimi as sub-committee chairman with  Midala Usman, Billy Osawaru and Mathew Nwaogu as members to harmonise positions on the contending issues surrounding the disputes in the downstream sector as it has to do with issue of workers’ right to join or not to join union, the alleged issue of retrenchment, powers of private companies to run its operations in the best productive way,  and other issues central to the dispute between Dangote Refinery and the Unions especially NUPENG and PENGASSAN.

The sub-committee has 14 days to complete the assignment. All the contending parties, especially NUPENG, PENGASSAN and DANGOTE REFINERY have been invited to submit detailed information on all the contending issues to enable the committee to come out with an informed decision to resolve all the issues.

Ugochinyere reiterated the call on the aggrieved oil and gas workers to end the industrial action and embrace peaceful methods of resolving Labor union crisis such as dialogue and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), recognised by labour laws.

The House of Representatives Committee on Downstream Petroleum Resources has the oversight responsibility over downstream petroleum sector.

Dangote Refinery has been fighting with its Nigerian workers over discriminatory wages with expatriate staff and the right to join trade union. About 1000 Nigerian workers joined legal trade unions and the company allegedly sacked them, causing PENGASSAN to cut off supply of crude oil and gas to the refinery.