• NSA wades in as FG urges association to suspend strike
• Dangote alleges union oligarchy, demands 10-year audited accounts

The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has expressed grave concern over the ongoing action by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), warning that the action amounts to self-help and economic sabotage capable of derailing the country’s fragile economic recovery.
 
This is just as the Federal Government has asked PENGASSAN to shelve the impending strike in the national interest and allow wisdom to prevail in all engagements to resolve its feud, with the National Security Adviser (NSA) wading into the matter.
 
The rift between Dangote, on his part, accused PENGASSAN and Trade Union Congress (TUC) of prioritising union dues and personal interests over workers’ welfare amid fresh calls for industrial action.
 
A statement by the Director-General of NECA, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, warned that any action capable of discouraging investment, undermining enterprises’ sustainability or harming the workers that the unions claim to protect would be counter-productive. He noted that while trade unions have the right to embark on industrial action, such rights must be exercised responsibly and within the bounds of the law. 
 
According to him, it is unacceptable for any union to conscript or coerce those not interested in its action or disrupt the operations of legitimate businesses not party to the dispute. 
 
The NECA boss said treating institutions of labour administration with disdain and resorting to self-help was not only absurd but also against all known conventions and recommendations. 
 
Oyerinde stated that Nigeria’s recovering economy could not be sacrificed on the altar of actions and pronouncements that are alien to global and local industrial relations practice.

APPEALING to PENGASSAN on behalf of the Federal Government, the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, noted that such action would have a negative impact on the rebounding economy if allowed to escalate. Special Adviser (Media) to the minister, Orji Uchenna Orji, stated that Umahi made the remark when he paid inspection visits to sections of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway in Lagos State, yesterday, where he also commended the quality of work done by Hitech.
 
Meanwhile, the NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, has taken over the ongoing reconciliation meeting between the leadership of PENGASSAN and Dangote Refinery as the chief conciliator.
 
Although the meeting had yet to commence at about 3.15pm when this report was being filed, critical stakeholders from the oil and gas sector involved in the ongoing peace meeting had started moving to the office of the NSA.
 
Our correspondent, who has been monitoring the development, reports that the President of PENGASSAN, Festus Osifo, was accompanied by the General Secretary of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Nuhu Toro, among other labour leaders.

DANGOTE, in a statement yesterday, described TUC as “zombie-like” for declaring “full solidarity” with PENGASSAN and threatening nationwide strike action against its management, without making any effort to verify the claims on which the action was based.
 
The statement came amid heightened tensions over industrial action by the unions, which defied a court injunction restraining strike activity, raising concerns over potential disruptions to the country’s energy supply and fuel security.
 
PENGASAN, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum (NDMP), as well as the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) have all been evading the service of the court order, restraining them from embarking on their planned industrial action against Dangote.
 
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), George Ibrahim, from Ogwu James Onoja Law Firm in Abuja, argued the application and secured the restraining order against the defendants on Monday.
 
Justice Emmanuel Danjuma Subilim held that the balance of convenience was in favour of the applicant as the continuation of the strike would irreparably damage its business and cripple the provision of essential services to the Nigerian public.
 
Consequently, the court ordered the service of the restraining order and motion on notice on the defendants. However, lead counsel to Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE, James Onoja (SAN), stated that all efforts to serve the court order on the defendants proved abortive, as they claimed to be on strike.