The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has called off its nationwide strike, which it initiated due to a dispute with Dangote Refinery.
The suspension of the strike was announced on Wednesday during a press conference in Abuja by the PENGASSAN president, Festus Osifo.
He explained that the union’s National Executive Council held an emergency meeting where it was decided to suspend the strike to give room for the process of absorbing the sacked Dangote Refinery workers, as agreed by all parties during a reconciliatory meeting facilitated by the federal government.
Osifo, however, warned that PENGASSAN would resume the industrial action without notice if the management of Dangote Refinery fails to honour the agreement.
“We are suspending and monitoring closely. Any slip on the part of Dangote, any part of this agreement, or any communiqué put out by the Ministry of Labour that is broken, will not give any notice; we will resume the suspended strike,” he said.
He also pointed out that some “grey areas” remain in the communiqué, which neither the government nor refinery management could fully clarify.
The federal government brokered peace between Dangote Refinery and PENGASSAN, effectively ending a labour dispute that threatened fuel supply stability in the country.
After two days of talks on Monday and Tuesday, the parties reached an agreement that disengaged workers will be reabsorbed into other Dangote Group companies, with no loss of pay.
The federal government team that brokered the peace included the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; Minister of Labour and Employment, Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi; Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu; Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha; Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Adeola Ajayi; as well as the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed.
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