By Adewale Sanyaolu
Fuel marketers yesterday kicked against the decision of the Dangote Refinery to suspend the sale of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, in naira.
In a memo to its customers on Friday, the refinery hinted that the decision would take effect from Sunday, September 28, 2025, citing the exhaustion of its crude-for-naira allocation as reason.
The notice, signed by the Group Commercial Operations of Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals, was titled “Suspension of DPRP PMS Naira Sales – Effective 28th September 2025”.
The company also asked customers with ongoing naira-based transactions to formally request refunds.
“We write to inform you that Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals has been selling petroleum products in excess of our Naira-Crude allocations and, consequently, we are unable to sustain PMS sales in Naira going forward.
Kindly note that this suspension of Naira sales for PMS will be effective from Sunday, 28th of September, 2025. We will provide further updates regarding the resumption of supply once the situation has been resolved.
All customers with PMS transactions in Naira who would like a refund of their current payments should formally request the processing of their refund.”
But the National President of Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Mr Billy Gilly-Harry, maintained that the refinery would not coerce marketers to pay for petrol in dollars.
“If Dangote Refinery is saying that the crude he is being given by the Nigeria Government does not equate to the level of his production, then he should be ready to make his production data available to scrutiny, so that we know exactly where the shortfall is coming from,” he said.
He said the decision to suspend sales in naira would further stifle the already tense system, warning that this decision was capable of hurting businesses.
“A lot of marketers that have borrowed monies from banks to purchase products are now stocked. If he is saying marketers should come for their monies, what about the time value of those monies? How would they service interest on those loans? Those are some of the ripple effects of his decision.
Meanwhile, the labour disagreement between the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) got messier on Saturday as the union ordered seven branches to cut off crude oil and gas supplies to the Refinery
In a letter dated September 26 and signed by its General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, the union accused the refinery’s management of sacking its members in punishment for exercising their constitutional right to join the union.
In the directive issued to its branch chairmen, PENGASSAN instructed its branch chairmen in key upstream and midstream oil companies, including TotalEnergies, Chevron, Seplat, Shell Nigeria Gas, Oando, and Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company(NGIC), to immediately cut off all crude oil and gas supplies to the refinery.
The directive may not be unconnected with the decision of the Dangote Refinery to restructure its workforce which the union alleged has led to the exit of over 800 of its members who are Nigerians and subsequently got the sacked workers replaced by over 2,000 Indians.
According to PENGASSAN, the move not only undermines the livelihoods of citizens but also raises serious concerns about the integrity of labour practices and compliance with the Labour Act of Nigeria. “Under Section 7 of the Labour Act, which prohibits discrimination and ensures the right to fair treatment in the workplace, the actions of Dangote Refinery are glaringly in violation of our labour laws.”
It added that the dismissal of such a significant number of Nigerian workers without due consultation or any transparent justification contravenes the legal rights granted to all employees in Nigeria.
“Furthermore, we will not tolerate this blatant disregard for the rights of Nigerian workers, particularly in light of the existing provisions under the Trade Union Act, which enshrines the right of workers to organise and join trade unions. The recent organisation of these workers as members of PENGASSAN underscores their collective power and right to protection under the law.
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