Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has downplayed allegations that Dangote Petroleum Refinery terminated the employment of 800 Nigerian workers, describing the claims as inconsistent with the refinery’s workforce needs and overall operational demands. His comments come amid heated accusations from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), which alleged that the refinery dismissed hundreds of Nigerian staff members for joining the workers’ union.
Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Governor Sule dismissed the narrative of sudden mass sackings, stressing that the refinery requires a vast pool of skilled personnel to run its round-the-clock operations. According to him, laying off such a large number of workers without a compelling reason would be impractical for a facility of that magnitude. “I don’t think that’s what happened. I don’t think Dangote will just wake up one morning and say 800 people gone, I don’t want you. It’s not like that,” the governor remarked.
He explained that Dangote Industries has historically demonstrated a commitment to employing and training Nigerians for the project. During the refinery’s construction phase, the company reportedly hired more than 4,000 workers, which later grew to over 10,000. He added that significant resources had been invested in training staff to manage the refinery’s highly technical systems. Using the refinery’s distillation unit as an example, Sule highlighted the complexity of operations. “The distillation unit alone of that refinery is equivalent to a 40-storey building. You can’t afford, in any system, to have something like that broken down. So, you need people to carry on with the operation, and the operation is 24 hours,” he said.
PENGASSAN, however, has stood firmly by its position. In a communiqué signed by its General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, the union described the alleged mass sackings as a “gross violation of Nigeria’s labour laws, the Constitution, and international conventions on workers’ rights.” The union further claimed that those dismissed were replaced by more than 2,000 expatriates, predominantly from India, accusing the refinery of undermining local talent and disrespecting the dignity of Nigerian workers.
Governor Sule acknowledged he did not have the full details of the dispute but reiterated his doubts about the possibility of Dangote carrying out such extensive layoffs, particularly at this stage of the refinery’s operations. “I don’t know exactly the details, but I think I will leave it there,” he concluded, leaving observers to await further developments as tensions between the refinery and the union continue to build.
