No fewer than 15 members of staff of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) have sued the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) over their suspension and the appointment of a caretaker committee for the regulatory authority.

The 15 members dragged the PENGASSAN leadership to the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), Abuja Judicial Division, in a suit number: NICN/ABJ/307/2025.

The legal battle is a new twist in the existing crisis in the NMDPRA branch of PENGASSAN, which culminated in the PENGASSAN leadership suspending over 40 members a few months ago.

This is the latest in the series of controversies between PENGASSAN and some of its branches.

The industrial court, Lagos Division, had ordered all parties involved in a leadership dispute at the Chevron branch of the PENGASSAN to maintain peace and cooperate with the court.

Joyce Onugba-Damachi, the presiding judge, gave the directive while hearing a suit brought by seven Chevron senior staff challenging the union’s national leadership over the dissolution of the branch’s executive committees and the installation of a caretaker committee (CTC).

It would be recalled that some staff members had rejected the caretaker committee for the branch installed by the National Secretariat of PENGASSAN.

The decision, announced on June 27, has been described by concerned members as unconstitutional, undemocratic, and a breach of the union’s internal rules.

In a statement issued in Abuja, the NMDPRA Congress maintained that the branch was peaceful and stable, and that there was no basis for dissolving its existing leadership structure.

On August 18, 2025, the PENGASSAN suspended the members for 10 years over “allegations of misconduct, constitutional violations and actions prejudicial to the interest of the union,” in a letter signed by its General Secretary, Comrade Lumumba Okugbawa.

“The CWC met on Monday, the 18th August, 2025 and deliberated on the report. At the end of the deliberations, we hereby wish to inform you that your membership of the Association is suspended for Ten (10) years with immediate effect,” the letter addressed to one of the members read in part.

Dissatisfied with their suspension, the 15 members approached the NICN, claiming that their suspension, the constitution of the caretaker committee and failure to conduct the NMDPRA-branch elections were a violation and breach of the PENGASSAN constitution.

Defendants in the case are PENGASSAN, its National President, Comrade Festus Osifo; General Secretary, Comrade Lumumba Ighotemu Okugbawa; Comrade Tony Izogba; Comrade Gbolahan Akinyo; Comrade Okechuwku Nwanko, Comrade Abba Safana and Comrade Polycarp Ihejirika, who are all members of the caretaker committee.

In the originating summons brought pursuant to section 254 (C) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended and order rule 3 of the NICN (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2017, the claimants raised 16 issues for determination and sought 18 reliefs.

They sought a declaration that, under the PENGASSAN Constitution 2022, the affairs of a branch of the association could not be administered by a caretaker committee for more than three months, during which a branch election would be conducted, among other reliefs.

The demands added: “A declaration that the act of running any branch of the PENGASSAN with a caretaker committee for over a period of three months is unconstitutional, illegal and unknown to the PENGASSAN constitution.

“A declaration that the suspension of the claimants by the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the 1st defendant on 18th August, 2025, pursuant to the recommendation of an Ethical, Grievance and Disciplinary Committee (EGC) not constituted by the branch executive committee (BECOM) is unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.”