By Charles Pemu 
A confirmed source has provided granular details from the recent tense negotiations between the Dangote Refinery management and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) over the mass termination of staff.
According to a high-level source involved in the talks, the Dangote Refinery made an extraordinary offer to the disengaged workers: five years’ worth of full salaries with no work requirement.
The source as reported revealed that the offer was explicitly an anti-sabotage measure. The refinery, which had fired the employees citing repeated safety and efficiency concerns, sought to protect its new facility by keeping individuals it deemed “untrustworthy” away from the premises.
“The offer was simple: get paid every month for five years, pursue other opportunities, but do not go near the refinery,” the source as reported stated. Dangote management reportedly argued to government representatives that this substantial financial commitment was a “lesser burden” than risking further operational compromise.
However, PENGASSAN, the union representing the workers, rejected the lucrative pay-to-stay-home offer.
Instead, the union insisted that the workers be integrated back into the Dangote Group, opting for a resolution that involved redeployment to other companies within the conglomerate.
When contacted for comment, PENGASSAN General Secretary Lumumba Okugbawa refrained from discussing the rejected option, noting that only the final, agreed-upon resolution was significant.
As reported, the parties ultimately reached an agreement in the early hours of Wednesday, leading to the suspension of PENGASSAN’s planned nationwide strike. This final accord mandates that the disengaged staff must now be transferred to other Dangote units with their pay intact.
A source as reported understands that PENGASSAN had, on Monday, shut down the major entry points of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and other regulatory bodies, demanding the workers’ welfare be protected a demand that led to the eventual redeployment compromise.