Former President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and lawmaker representing Edo North, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, has criticized the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) for shutting down government-owned oil agencies in its ongoing face-off with Dangote Refinery.
The dispute erupted after PENGASSAN accused the refinery of sacking more than 800 of its members. In response, the union directed its members to withdraw their services, leading to the closure of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) offices in Abuja on Monday.
The shutdown triggered fresh fuel scarcity across the country as queues resurfaced at petrol stations, leaving motorists stranded and sparking public outcry.
Oshiomhole, speaking on Arise Television’s The Morning Show on Friday, faulted the union’s approach, saying that while defending workers’ rights was important, it should not come at the cost of paralyzing the entire oil sector.
“What I’m not sure is right,” Oshiomhole said, “is the ease with which Ferguson resorted to escalating the matter to a secondary level, what we call secondary solidarity, to a point of shutting down the oil sector. In seeking to protect a particular set of workers, you do not then risk the jobs of several other workers.”
The former NLC president stressed that before any labour union can call a nationwide strike or shut down vital national assets, there must be a direct dispute with the government over an issue that affects the general public. He questioned the speed and ease with which the gates of NNPCL and other oil agencies were shut, suggesting that such actions would have been resisted if the organizations were privately owned.
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“My experience is that before you shut the gate of NNPC, there has to be a fight,” Oshiomhole argued. “So when I saw NNPC gate effortlessly closed, and all the other government-owned oil companies shut down without resistance, I asked myself, if these were private employers, would they allow such? Why is everybody so helpless that we are at the mercy of anyone?”
Oshiomhole added that labour union operations are guided by law, noting that workers must see a clear connection between their well-being and the dispute before following union leaders into such drastic action.
“Before you take those measures, you must be ready for a fight. And the workers, for them to follow, must see the linkage between their welfare and what is at stake,” he concluded.
The senator’s remarks have sparked further debate over the balance between union power, workers’ rights, and national economic stability, especially at a time when fuel supply disruptions hit hardest across Nigerian cities.
