Olayiwola Matthew
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has dissolved the executive committees of its branches at Nigeria Gas Infrastructure Company Ltd (NGIC) and NNPC Gas Marketing Limited (NGML).
This move follows the “inability” of those branch executives to fully shut down gas supply to Dangote Refinery during the association’s industrial action.
On September 28, PENGASSAN initiated a nationwide strike, directing its members to cut down gas production and supply to the Dangote facility.
Congress members of the NGIC/NGML branches appealed to the national leadership to reconsider the dissolution and drop what they described as allegations of collusion and acceptance of monetary gifts from management.
They argued that such serious claims could tarnish the reputation of their executives unless those implicated were given a chance to clear their names.
In their defense, the branch insisted that while they had attempted to shut down supply, they were only able to close certain valves and not effect a full shutdown. They stressed:
“It is also important to state that, at no point did the branch executives tell anyone that Dangote has been shut down 100%, they only said they have shut down some valves along the line …”
They further claimed that some reports had prematurely declared the refinery fully shut down purely to “give good news,” before results of their actions could be objectively assessed.
Despite these efforts, the national leadership deemed them unsuccessful and moved to remove the branch leadership.
The dissolved branches countered by asserting that the branch leadership had gone above and beyond, even risking their safety by targeting operational shutdowns and assets.
They dismissed allegations of collusion, sabotage, or accepting incentives, insisting none of them held any substance.
They warned that continued dissemination of such allegations might demoralize members who remained committed to the cause.
Credit: The Cable