By Amah
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The air of confusion that enveloped the troubled oil industry, following alleged mass sacking of Nigerian workers by the Dangote Refinery is yet to dissipate.
The company has locked horns with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers over the unionisation of workers.
NUPENG had declared a strike, which was suspended following the intervention of the Federal Government.
Dangote Refinery went further to secure an interim injunction barring the union and its affiliates from embarking on strike.
However, Dangote Refinery has not issued any formal rebuttal of the said report, an official of the confirmed it but claimed it was a misrepresentation of the actual situation of things.
The official stated, “Yes, the letter is correct. But the interpretation is wrong. The interpretation is that it affects some people because of certain things discovered in the refinery. It has nothing to do with unionism or anything like that, ” he reportedly said, adding that the reorganisation was targeted at plugging leakages and protecting the company’s assets, not sacking workers.
“It doesn’t mean they have been sacked. That is incorrect. What was done was to put a check in place. It is more like a clean-up in the system to check where those sabotage and leakages are coming from and then address them. As soon as the issues are addressed, they will be reabsorbed. That is why it is not a sack and that word wasn’t used.”
The reported dismissal arose from a leaked memo, which states that the Refinery is “constrained to carry out a total re-organisation of the plant.”
“As a consequence of this development, we wish to inform you that your services are no longer required, with effect from the eve of Thursday, the 25th September, 2025,” the memo read.
“Please surrender all the Company’s properties in your possession to your line manager and obtain an exit clearance accordingly but, the date for doing so, will be communicated to you later.
“The Finance Department, by a copy of this letter, is advised to compute all your benefits and entitlements in line with your terms of employment and conditions of service and pay the amount due to you (less all indebtedness), subject to the condition that you have obtained the exit clearance certificate as mentioned above.”
However, reacting to the development, Festus Osifo, assured that the company would reverse the decision, adding that they saw the letter on Wednesday and assured that the workers would be recalled.
Dangote Refinery later issued a statement, validating what it’s anonymous official earlier said, noting the necessity of the dismissal of some workers and not mass sack as purported.
