The Federal Government has called for calm and patriotism in the ongoing dispute between the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and the Dangote Refinery, urging PENGASSAN to place national interest above individual or group concerns.
Vice President Kashim Shettima made this appeal on Monday during the opening session of the 2025 Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja.
His position was further reinforced by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, who emphasized the critical role of the refinery in the country’s economic landscape.
Shettima highlighted the strategic significance of the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery, describing the $20 billion project as a national treasure that must be fully supported for the sake of Nigeria’s economic growth and stability.
He said, “Aliko Dangote, he’s not an individual, he’s an institution, and he’s a leading light in Nigeria’s economic parliament. And how we treat this gentleman will determine how outsiders will judge us. If he had invested $10 billion in Microsoft, in Amazon, or in Google, he probably might be worth $70 to $80 billion by now.
“But he opted to invest in his country, and we owe it to future generations to jealously protect, promote, preserve, and protect the interests of this great Nigeria.”
The Vice President urged both labour and the organised private sector to approach industrial relations with restraint and patriotism, stressing the need to safeguard the nation’s economic progress.
“I wish to call for caution, retrospection, and a deeper sense of patriotism from both labour and the organised private sector in defining and improving the relationship between labour and industry in the interest of maintaining our steadily improving economic fortunes,” he added.
“It’s not about holding the whole nation to ransom because of a minor labour dispute. Nigeria is greater than PENGASSAN. Nigeria is greater than each and every one of us. I’m not coming to you as a partisan.”
