Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has relieved several employees of their duties as part of a restructuring move, following incidents of sabotage within some refinery units that triggered serious safety concerns.
Mr. Femi Adekunle, Chief General Manager of Human Asset Management at Dangote Group, confirmed the development in a document issued in Lagos on Friday.
He explained that the restructuring was necessitated by repeated cases of sabotage in critical refinery sections, which posed significant safety threats.
According to him, the management was compelled to initiate a comprehensive reorganisation of the refinery, leading to the disengagement of the affected employees with effect from Thursday, Sept. 25.
He said: “The employees were told to give all company property to their line managers and obtain an exit clearance, with the specific date for the process to be communicated later.
“The finance department, by a copy of this letter, is advised to compute all your benefits and entitlements in line with your terms of employment and conditions of service.
” And pay the amount due to you (less all indebtedness), subject to the condition that you have obtained the exit clearance certificate as mentioned above,” Adekunle stated.
Although the exact number of disengaged staff has not been made public, reports suggest the restructuring may also be connected to employees’ push for union membership.
It will be recalled that the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), in alliance with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), had previously threatened to halt refinery operations over what it described as management’s refusal to grant unionisation rights.
PENGASSAN expressed dissatisfaction with what it termed the refinery’s continuous opposition to union activities, stressing that dialogue had failed to yield results.
The union added that should the impasse persist, it would be left with no alternative but to back NUPENG in shutting down operations at the refinery to defend workers’ rights.