The Dangote refinery has re-employed the engineers sacked last month during the crisis between it and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria.

Our correspondent reliably gathered that the engineers were now being posted to Borno, Zamfara, Benue and others.

The engineers, some of whom were still graduate trainees during their sack, were invited to pick up their re-employment/redeployment letters.

The workers, who did not want to be mentioned because of how sensitive the matter is, told our correspondent that some were sent to a coal mine in Benue and concrete road construction sites in Borno and Ebonyi states, as well as the rice plants in Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, and Zamfara states.

They were expected to report at their new places of assignment within 14 days, or they would lose the jobs.

Sources within the Dangote group confirmed the development to our correspondent.

“They basically re-employed all of us to these places, under Dangote Projects,” one of the workers told The PUNCH.

One of the letters sighted by our correspondent was titled ’Offer of Trainee Engagement’ with a letterhead that shows Dangote Projects Limited.

It reads partly, “Based on your performance at the assessment and subsequent interviews held with you, we are pleased to engage you as Engineer Trainee (Mechanical Engineering) for the coal project we are executing at Okpokwu, Benue State.

“This engagement shall be subject to the following conditions: You will report to your work location within 14 days upon receipt of this letter.

“You will undergo classroom training and hands-on training in the construction, commissioning and operation for our Coal Project at Okpokwu, Benue State. Your training will be for a period of two years, and it will be reviewed periodically. You will be required to submit reports on your learning and progress. The objective of the training is to impart to you skills and to enable you to take up a position of responsibility in the organisation.

“Both the company and you can terminate the trainee engagement by giving one month’s notice or payment of one month’s salary in lieu of notice. We welcome you to the Dangote Group.”

The letters were signed by the Chief General Manager, Human Asset Management, Femi Adekunle.

While some have gone to Dangote’s office in Ikeja for their letters, others said they were told by the leadership of PENGASSAN to hold on as discussions were still ongoing.

The workers expressed concerns over their deployment to far-away places, especially places known for insecurity.

“The issue with the re-employment is that, firstly, there’s no address to report to on that letter. No office to report to at the states we were posted to. Secondly, those are security hot zones.

“Thirdly, in the letter, it is stated that if you don’t report within 14 days, your employment will be terminated, but no office location was given, and they don’t exist when we checked on Google Maps. So, if we accept the letter, we are basically terminating our employment by ourselves because there’s no office in those states to report to. PENGASSAN has basically told us not to accept the letters. We should let them continue with their talks,” they told The PUNCH.

However, an official of the Dangote Group said the agreement was to redeploy the workers to other business units under the group, either within or outside the country.

Recall that PENGASSAN shut down oil and gas facilities one month ago over allegations that 800 refinery workers were fired for volunteering to be members of the union.

But the Dangote refinery said it only sacked a few workers who were sabotaging the facility, tagging it a reorganisation.

Oil and gas workers went on strike in defence of their colleagues, causing the nation losses in oil and gas production as well as a drop in power generation.

The intervention of the Federal Government restored peace as the Dangote Group was asked to redeploy the sacked workers.

Sources within the Dangote Group had earlier told our correspondent that the company was ready to redeploy the engineers to its sugar and cement plants.

It was learnt that the company would also recruit new engineers to replace the redeployed ones, and the redeployment would be a huge loss to the company.

But some of the engineers decried the plan to redeploy them to sugar, cement and other business units under the Dangote Group.

The workers said the company was victimising them for unionisation.

Speaking on Sunday, the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, said the company would employ 65,000 workers for construction works as the expansion of the refinery from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day began.

It is yet to be known whether or not some of the sacked engineers would be reabsorbed for the expansion, especially as they were accused of attempting to sabotage the refinery 22 times, a claim the affected workers have denied.

Dangote flags PIA amendment to unlock refining potential

Africa’s richest man and President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has thrown his weight behind the proposed amendment of the Petroleum Industry Act, saying it would create more opportunities for local refining and strengthen Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

Dangote said this during a question-and-answer session at the press conference to mark the official announcement on the expansion of the Dangote Refinery from 650,000 barrels to 1.4 million barrels per day. He said the move to revisit the PIA would “open up a lot” for the industry.

Dangote said that the review was necessary to ensure that the law reflects the realities of Nigeria’s downstream operations and supports indigenous investments.

He said the planned review of the Petroleum Industry Act would unlock new opportunities and address grey areas in the current legislation.

According to him, the existing provisions of the Act already empower international oil companies and regulators to make certain adjustments that, if properly implemented, could further strengthen the oil and gas sector.

He said, “The opening of the Petroleum Industry Act by revisiting the PIA through the amendment will open up a lot. There are other areas where it allowed the IOCs and the regulators to tinker with something, which I think will help.”

He explained that with renewed presidential support and ongoing policy reforms, the amendment would ensure that the right provisions are captured to promote domestic refining and energy security.

Dangote noted that the policy framework already stipulates that only crude oil unsuitable for local refining should be exported but lamented that the directive has not been strictly enforced.

He accused some producers of exploiting the “willing buyer, willing seller” policy to export crude that could otherwise be refined within Nigeria.

While acknowledging the importance of market freedom, the industrialist stressed that the willing buyer and willing seller arrangement should apply primarily to producers operating within Nigeria, not offshore trading companies.

“Right now, with this new presidential support and also the policies, we will also make sure that it captures the right things. Because it is already in the policy that only crude that cannot be refined in Nigeria should be exported to other countries, which I think is not being followed aggressively, because they are hiding under the willing buyer and willing seller.

“Of course, there should be a willing buyer and a willing seller, but it should be the company that is producing her and not a trading company outside Nigeria’s shores,” he added.

The Dangote refinery started operations in 2024, significantly reducing Nigeria’s years of dependence on fuel importation.

The expansion project would make it the largest single-train refinery in the world upon completion.

He reiterated his group’s commitment to helping Nigeria achieve self-sufficiency in petroleum products and reduce the nation’s dependence on imports.

The Petroleum Industry Act, signed into law in August 2021 after nearly two decades of legislative delay, was hailed as a landmark reform for Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. It consolidated multiple laws into a single framework to promote transparency, attract investment, and ensure fair returns for both the government and investors.

However, four years after its enactment, stakeholders have raised concerns about certain provisions, particularly those relating to host community funds, fiscal terms, and the operational autonomy of regulatory bodies.

In recent months, the Federal Government signalled its intention to amend parts of the Act to address emerging realities, including the global energy transition, local refining incentives, and Nigeria’s push toward value addition in-country.

The proposed amendment is expected to focus on improving domestic refining policies, clarifying royalty structures, and strengthening environmental and governance provisions.

The PIA amendments also propose shifting certain powers from NNPCL to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and vesting sole ownership of NNPCL in the Ministry of Finance Incorporated.

However, this has been rejected by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, as well as the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers.

The two unions warned that the move to allegedly amend the Petroleum Industry Act and remove the running of oil and gas from the NNPCL could endanger the country’s economic stability, weaken its oil industry, and jeopardise the welfare of workers.

They stated that the policies are dangerous and capable of bankrupting the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

The oil workers urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene and halt the plan.

The proposed amendment to the Petroleum Industry Act has advanced to the Senate stage as of October 2025. However, the bill is still undergoing legislative consideration and has not yet been passed or signed into law, marking it as a work in progress within the National Assembly.

Dangote refinery to set up tank farm in Namibia

The Dangote Refinery has unveiled plans to establish a large-scale tank farm in Namibia as part of its strategic expansion into the Southern African energy market.

Dangote disclosed this during a question-and-answer session at a press conference to mark the expansion of the Dangote Refinery’s production capacity from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day.

The new infrastructure is designed to support the export of key refined products such as petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel to Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and South Africa, countries that currently rely heavily on imported fuels due to limited local refining capacity.

Dangote said demand for refined petroleum products across Africa was growing rapidly, creating opportunities for regional market expansion.

He revealed that the Namibian government had approved the construction of a large tank farm to serve as a distribution hub for fuel exports from Nigeria.

He said, “In Africa, demand for refined petroleum products is going up every single day, and that is why there are other markets we want to serve.

“We have been approved by the Namibian government to put up a huge tank farm because we are not putting a refinery there. We will now supply Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and South Africa because they also don’t have a working refinery; only one is currently operational.”

The billionaire industrialist explained that the move aligns with the group’s broader continental strategy to bridge Africa’s fuel supply gap, reduce dependence on imported refined products, and promote regional energy security.

The expansion reinforces Dangote’s growing footprint across Africa’s downstream sector, positioning the refinery as a key supplier of petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel to several African markets once full operations commence.

The refinery, located in the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos, began operations earlier in 2024 and has already started supplying diesel and aviation fuel to the domestic market. The latest expansion and regional export plans underscore its ambition to become a continental energy powerhouse.

Tinubu backs Dangote refinery’s expansion

President Bola Tinubu has said the Federal Government will support the ongoing plan to expand the Dangote refinery from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day.

Tinubu stated this Monday at the ongoing OTL Africa Downstream Week in Lagos.

Recall that the Dangote refinery said it had officially begun construction work for the expansion of the facility from 650,000 barrels to 1.4 million barrels per day.

The President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, made the announcement at a press briefing in Lagos on Sunday.

“We are expanding the Dangote Petroleum Refinery from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day. Upon completion, this will make it the largest refinery in the world, surpassing the Jamnagar Refinery in India,” Dangote said.

Commenting on the development at this year’s OTL conference, Tinubu, who was represented by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, lauded Dangote for the development, describing it as good news.

At 1.4 mbpd, Tinubu said the refinery would not only serve Nigeria or Africa, it would serve the world.

“Yesterday (Sunday), I heard the good news that Dangote is expanding his refinery to 1.4 million barrels per day. That will not just serve Nigeria; it will not just serve West Africa; it will serve Africa; it will serve the entire world. So, it’s good news.

“And the Federal Government will support him all the way to accomplish that,” he stated.

Speaking as the oil minister, Lokpobiri said investments like this were why Tinubu removed petrol subsidies when he assumed office in 2023.

“The main reason why Mr President, on the day he was being sworn in, announced subsidy removal was because with subsidy, the private sector was not going to grow; with subsidy, this sector was not going to grow. Downstream and midstream can only grow when the right environment and the right business environment are created for the private sector to bring in their capital and invest and maximise the opportunities. Some people didn’t understand this, and I’m not surprised.

“With deregulation and the liberalisation of the downstream sector, there’s healthy competition, and the price is stable. There’s availability, there’s affordability and accessibility, even with all the challenges. If that wasn’t done, Nigeria would have crumbled,” he noted.

The former senator added that the Federal Government and states now share over N2tn monthly from the federation account instead of about N500bn before Tinubu’s era.

“It’s expected that this money is being used to provide the needed infrastructure,” he said.

In his address, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Commissioner for Energy, Biodun Ogunleye, commended the organisers for sustaining a platform he said had shaped downstream reforms and attracted investments across the continent for nearly two decades.

The governor praised OTL Africa’s impact, saying it had played a crucial role in shaping the agenda for downstream development across Africa, sparking reforms, attracting investments, and fostering discussions that have led to meaningful change.

Highlighting Lagos’s role as host and energy hub, Sanwo-Olu said, “This lasting connection reinforces Lagos’s status as the energy and logistics capital of sub-Saharan Africa, a true hub of innovation, enterprise, and strategic investment.”

“Here in Lagos, we wholeheartedly embrace that vision. With our Lagos State Electricity Policy and the Lagos Energy Transition Plan, we are working to expand access to clean energy, promote private involvement, and establish Lagos as a leading example of subnational leadership in Africa’s energy transition,” he added.

Sanwo-Olu reaffirmed Lagos’s commitment to collaboration on platforms like OTL Africa, which bring together policymakers, regulators, investors, and innovators to create a sustainable and thriving energy future.”

“I firmly believe that the discussions and connections made here will spark new opportunities for Lagos, for Nigeria, and for Africa.”