PENGASSAN Dissolves NGIC, NGML Branch Executives Over Alleged Failure to Shut Down Gas Supply to Dangote Refinery Amid Internal Crisis

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has dissolved the branch executive councils of the Nigeria Gas Infrastructure Company Limited (NGIC) and the NNPC Gas Marketing Limited (NGML) over what it described as the “inability” of the executives to completely shut down gas supply to the Dangote Refinery during its recent strike action.

The dissolution, which has deepened the union’s internal crisis, was contained in a report seen by TheCable on Monday.

According to the report, PENGASSAN had on September 28 commenced a nationwide strike, directing its members to reduce gas production and cut off supply to the Dangote Refinery. However, the national leadership accused the NGIC/NGML branches of failing to comply fully with this directive, a development that has now led to the dissolution of their executive councils.

In their reaction, the NGIC/NGML congress members appealed to the national leadership of the union to “reconsider its decision to dissolve the leadership of NGIC/NGML Branch.”

They also urged the national body to “kindly drop the allegations of collusion and acceptance of monetary gifts from NGIC/NGML Management to prevent the shutdown.”

“These allegations are serious and if continued to be spread may taint the image of the executives and calls into question their integrity,” the group stated in their letter.

They further pleaded that if there was “evidence of sabotage beyond our line of sight as a congress, to suggest that dissolution of the branch be instituted, then we appeal that fair hearing be granted to the comrades to either clear their names or be found guilty with evidence.”

The congress insisted that failure to completely halt gas supply should not attract outright dissolution but rather call for “correction and re-strategize for future success.”

The congress members explained that while they made efforts to execute the shutdown directive, technical and operational challenges limited their success.

“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 and the inlet from OB3 to the line through Oben, and they hope the pressure will drop after few hours and Dangote will come down, all of which didn’t work out as they had expected,” the report reads.

They claimed that “whoever informed the national president that gas supply to Dangote refinery was cut-off had done so in haste to give good news, and impatient to wait for the outcome of the actions our comrades from NGIC took.”

The congress members maintained that the branch leadership acted with full commitment to the directives of the national body, even at great personal risk. They noted that the leaders undertook “unprecedented actions” in the history of NGIC/NGML, including the shutdown of key facilities and damage to assets in the course of the strike.

In a further defense, the congress noted that the NGIC/NGML branch of PENGASSAN had never before shut down customer operations during a strike, saying the recent experience was exceptional.

They claimed that despite constraints, including continued gas injections from producers into the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline System (ELPS) and the heavy deployment of military personnel, the branch still achieved significant results in support of the national strike.

“The actions taken by our leaders left no room for suspicion of any collusion with the NGIC management to undermine the national struggle against Dangote,” the members said.

They dismissed the allegations of receiving incentives, conniving with management, or engaging in sabotage as baseless and lacking credible evidence.

According to them, such unfounded claims “failed to reflect the leadership’s substantial contributions to the struggle” and could demoralize members who had stood resolutely behind the union during the industrial action.