- Safiu Kehinde
The Federal Government’s efforts to broker truce between the management of Dangote Refinery, and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) proved abortive as the meeting ended in stalemate.
NPO Reported that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Mohammad Dingyadi, had invited both parties on Monday to settle their ongoing feud over the alleged mass sack of union members by Dangote.
While PENGASSAN had embarked on strike and protest, the association’s delegates led by its President, Festus Osifo, alongside the General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) Nuhu Toro, arrived at the Ministry.
Dangote officials also honoured the invitation with the close-door meeting commencing around 3: 30 p.m. at the Minister of Labour and Employment’s Conference Hall in Abuja.
Despite the talks stretching into late hours, it broke up few minutes after midnight without any agreement.
According to reports, PENGASSAN insisted its members will not return to work until the alleged anti-labour practices are reversed, while Dangote Refinery maintains that its restructuring exercise is in line with global best practices.
Meanwhile, both parties are expected to reconvene again at 2p.m. today.
At the meeting, Dingyadi had reportedly appealed to both parties to demonstrate good faith in dialogue, stressing that industrial peace in the oil and gas sector was critical at a time Nigeria is banking on the Dangote Refinery to boost local refining capacity and reduce dependence on imported petroleum products.