By Ayo Kehinde
The management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has commenced a reorganisation of its workforce, citing repeated sabotage that threatened the operational safety of the multi-billion-dollar oil complex.
The Lagos-based refinery, with a production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, said the drastic move was necessary to protect its assets and ensure uninterrupted operations.
Earlier reports say the private refinery had sacked many of it’s senior staff for joining the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN.
It’s National President, Comrade Festus Osifo told reporters that the union has scheduled a meeting to deal with the matters and assured that all those fired for joining the union will be recalled.
However, in an internal memo dated September 24, 2025, signed by the Chief General Manager of Human Asset Management, Femi Adekunle, the company disclosed that it was “constrained to carry out a total reorganisation of the plant” following “many recent cases of reported sabotage in different units of the Petroleum Refinery leading to major safety concerns.”
Staffs affected by the exercise were instructed to surrender company property to their line managers and obtain exit clearance, after which their entitlements would be processed in line with conditions of service.
Dangote spokesperson, Anthony Chiejina, has not issued any statement to clarify speculations of mass retrenchment at the refinery. A senior company official, however, said the move was not a mass layoff but a restructuring effort aimed at curbing sabotage and leakages.
“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,” the official explained, adding that the measure was temporary and designed to safeguard company assets.
“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 sabotages 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”, he said.
According to the official, the sudden implementation was deliberate to prevent those involved in the alleged sabotage from concealing evidence of wrongdoing.
“Some acts of sabotage have been noticed repeatedly, and the company is only trying to safeguard its assets. Also, you cannot do things like this and give two weeks’ notice; otherwise, those in the act would cover up and complicate issues”, he added, while assuring stakeholders that the plant was still fully operational, with both Nigerian and foreign employees actively working.
“As we speak, people are still working at the refinery. The people affected know themselves, and those who did not get the letter are not affected. Anyone who doesn’t have a hand in sabotage has nothing to worry about”, he stressed.j
