By Dada Ahmed in Lokoja.
(C) Google.
Anxiety is spreading across Kogi State as residents, particularly motorists in Lokoja, have appealed to the Federal Government to urgently intervene in the escalating face-off between the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
In separate interviews with The Reporters on Saturday, residents including Mr. Mathew Adewumi, Miss Stella Adenayo, and Mr. Salau Abdulsalami, expressed fear that the crisis could trigger another round of fuel scarcity, leading to higher transport fares and a ripple effect on other social and commercial services.
“The fight between these two powerful organizations, if not quickly checked, will spell doom for the poor who are already struggling to survive,” Adewumi said.
Our correspondent reports that Nigeria’s fragile energy sector has been thrown into uncertainty after PENGASSAN directed its members to immediately halt the supply of gas and crude oil to the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery.
The order, contained in a directive signed by the union’s General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, followed the refinery’s recent termination of more than 800 workers who joined the union.
PENGASSAN condemned the action as “illegitimate and provocative,” and directed members nationwide to withdraw services linked to the refinery effective 00:01 a.m. on Monday, September 29, 2025.
“All processes that involve gas and crude supply to Dangote Refinery should be let off immediately,” the union stated, while instructing international oil companies (IOCs) to ramp down supply to the refinery and its petrochemical arms.
In a striking appeal, the directive called on Nigerians to pray for courage for authorities to “rein in Dangote and his co-travelers on the need to obey the laws of our country.
With the standoff threatening to cripple Africa’s largest refinery and disrupt petroleum product supply chains, residents of Kogi say the Federal Government must act swiftly to prevent a full-blown fuel crisis that could worsen the country’s economic challenges.
With Naijanews report
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
