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The National Industrial Court in Abuja has stepped up to avoid what can be the main energy crisis, holding back the Nigerian Senior Petroleum and Natural Gas Staff (Pengassan) from cutting the supply of oil and raw gas to petroleum refineries and Petrochemical assessments.
Judge Emmanuel Subilim, in the verdict submitted on Monday, gave a temporary order after the former party motion submitted by Dangote Refinery through his main advisor, Ogwu Onoja, San.
The court orders specifically prohibit their passing, members, agents, and affiliations from “calling or directing the stopping of the supply of crude oil and gas to the plaintiff, with any guise, and or starting any industrial actions against the prosecutor with the objectives that paralyzed, blocking the paths or blocking the flow of vehicle movements claimed, with the aim, cover listener, vision, and blocking hearing.
Other defendants in the lawsuit include the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL), Midstream Nigeria and downstream oil regulatory authority, and the Nigerian upstream oil regulation commission – all of which are trying to refrain from giving effect to the direction of passing to cut supplies.
Dangote Refinery told the court that recently began the re-organization of the factory after the sabotage incident that caused “serious health problems and safety risk.” Management said that several staff were released from their duties as a result, a decision that was communicated through the September 25th memo.
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However, the company said he was worried that he had accused him of firing more than 800 workers for joining a trade union, a refinery claim called “wrong and misleading.”
“The first defendant issued a press statement on September 26, 2025 which mistakenly referred to the installation of workers by the plaintiff as an anti-employment practice, accused that workers were victims because they joined the first defendant as an incorrect trade union member,” said the prosecutor.
The company accused that Pengassan, through the Secretary General, Kawan Lamumba Okugbawa, wrote to the Minister of Oil & Gas Warning that except workers who were fired again, the union and its members would “take action that would force the dangote refinery to his knees.”
Dangote Refinery argues that if the threat is carried out, it will endanger the country’s energy security, Nigeria plunged “into the dark days of energy scarcity and crisis,” and causing destroying losses for the economy.
“The plaintiff’s factory was built with more than 20 billion US dollars by its promoter to resolve Nigerian energy problems … but the first defendant if allowed to improve the threat is undoubtedly going to plunge Nigeria into dark days of energy scarcity and crisis and … negative impacts on the economy,” the application stated.
Judge Subilim decided that the balance of comfort supports the refinery and that allowing the strikes to be threatened to continue “cannot be improved in damaging the business and paralyzing the provision of important services to the Nigerian public.”
He consequently issued a temporary order to maintain the status quo and maintain industrial peace while waiting for a substantive lawsuit session.
This case was postponed until October 13, 2025, for hearing, with a temporary order given seven days.
