The Dangote Petroleum Refinery management has reportedly invited some old applicants to job screening hours after sacking no less than 800...
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery management has reportedly invited some old applicants to job screening hours after sacking no less than 800 workers.
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) earlier said many Nigerian workers were sacked by the Dangote refinery said the refinery laid off some of its staff members, noting that the group was working to "resolve" the issue.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery, subsequently confirmed the sacking of some workers, describing it as a small-scale reorganisation to pro
The company said the move wasn't arbitrary and emphasised that more than 3,000 Nigerians are still employed at the refinery with new recruitment still ongoing.
"More than 800 Nigerians affected" -- PENGASSAN
But PENGASSAN disagreed with the refinery company, saying over 800 Nigerians were sacked.
In a statement on Friday by Lumumba Okugbawa, general secretary of PENGASSAN, accused the refinery of replacing them with thousands of foreign workers, many of them alleged to be without proper documentation.
PENGASSAN denounced the action as an "anti-labour practice" and a blatant violation of Nigeria's labour laws. The union said that unless Dangote recalls the workers that have been dismissed, it may be forced to take legal and industrial action.
Dangote Refinery sends invites for job offers to old applicants
However, rather than bending under pressure, the management of the Refinery is said to have invited old applicants for screening for the jobs.
A political commentator, Imran Wakili, who revealed this on his X handle on Friday, claimed that the company has started recalling job applicants who were screened but not hired as far back as 2022. he said some of the candidates had received fresh emails from the refinery inviting them to resume medicals - a mandatory step before final employment.
He questioned the timing of the move, coming on the heels of reports that the refinery had laid off hundreds of workers.
"Dangote Refinery is sending emails to some of the people screened but not employed as far back as 2022, inviting them to do medicals again.
"Why is the refinery recalling candidates now, right after it let go of hundreds of workers? "This is obviously an effort to quietly replace the unionized staff who were recently laid off," Wakili wrote.