Nationwide blackout imminent over Dangote Refinery, PENGASSAN feud

Nigeria may be thrown into blackout in the coming days, as Nigerian electricity generation companies raised the alarm on Sunday.

GenCos said the Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company has issued a notification to comply with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria directive for members to cut gas supplies.

The Executive Secretary of the Association of Power Generating Companies, Joy Ogaji, confirmed the development to DAILY POST on Sunday.

She said the move would lead to the shutdown of the country’s Thermal GenCos.

According to her, if the directive is implemented any time soon, there would be imminent darkness in the country, as hydro generation plants cannot sustain the country’s national grid.

She, however, assured that development is being monitored to see if the federal government would intervene.

“Please all be notified of the imminent darkness, as hydros alone cannot sustain the system,” she stated. “Yes, but we are still watching if the situation will reverse,” she confirmed to DAILY POST.

Recall that last week a report emerged that Dangote Refinery sacked workers for voluntarily belonging to PENGASSAN.

In response, PENGASSAN, after its National Executive Council meeting at the weekend, announced a nationwide strike and called on members to cut gas and crude supply to Dangote Refinery until the sacked workers are recalled.

In an update, PENGASSAN confirmed that members complied with the directive on Sunday.

Worse, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria on Sunday noticed members of the plans to join PENGASSAN on a nationwide strike.

Dangote Refinery in a latest statement described the move as bully and terror tactics by the union.

As an intervention, the minister of Labour, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, and the Ministry of Finance, in separate statements, have called for dialogue between PENGASSAN and Dangote Refinery.

Particularly, Minister Dingyadi had called for a meeting slated for Monday between weary parties to resolve the feud.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian government has assured of petroleum product stability despite the feud between Dangote Refinery and PENGASSAN.