Fifteen workers from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) have taken legal action against the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN). They filed a suit in the National Industrial Court regarding their suspension and the appointment of a caretaker committee for the NMDPRA branch in Abuja.
The workers are suing both for themselves and as concerned members of the NMDPRA branch of PENGASSAN. They have brought the case to the Abuja Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) under suit number NICN/ABJ/307/2025.
This legal dispute has highlighted new issues within the NMDPRA branch of PENGASSAN, particularly concerning the suspension of some members by the association’s leadership. This is the latest development in an ongoing controversy between PENGASSAN and several of its branches, which also includes disputes with staff from Shell, Chevron, and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).
Previously, the NICN in Lagos had instructed all parties involved in a leadership conflict at the Chevron branch of PENGASSAN to maintain peace and cooperate with the court.
Joyce Onugba-Damachi, the presiding judge, issued this directive while adjudicating a case filed by seven Chevron senior staff members who challenged the union’s national leadership over the disbanding of the branch’s executive committees and the installation of a caretaker committee.
It is important to note that several staff members have rejected the caretaker committee appointed by PENGASSAN’s National Secretariat. The decision, announced on June 27, has been criticized as unconstitutional, undemocratic, and a violation of the union’s internal rules.
In a statement issued in Abuja, the NMDPRA Congress emphasized that the branch is peaceful and maintained that there is no justification for the dissolution of its existing leadership structure.
On August 18, 2025, the PENGASSAN suspended the members for 10 years over ‘allegations of misconduct, constitutional violations and actions prejudicial to the interest of the union.’
The suspension letter communicated to each of the affected members was signed by the General Secretary, Comrade Lumumba Ighotemu Okugbawa.
‘The CWC met on Monday the 18th August, 2025 and deliberated on the report. At the end of the deliberations, we hereby wish to inform you that your membership of the Association is suspended for Ten (10) years with immediate effect,’ the letter addressed to one of the members read.
Dissatisfied with their suspension, 15 members approached the NICN, claiming their suspension and the constitution of the caretaker committee and failure to conduct the NMDPRA-Branch elections is a violation and breach of the PENGASSAN.
Defendants in the case are PENGASSAN, its National President, Comrade Festus Osifo; General Secretary, Comrade Lumumba Ighotemu Okugbawa; Comrade Tony Izogba; Comrade Gbolahan Akinyo; Comrade Okechuwku Nwanko, Comrade Abba Safana and Comrade Polycarp Ihejirika who are all members of the caretaker committee.
In the originating summons brought pursuant to section 254 (C) of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended and order rule 3 of the NICN (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2017, the claimants raised 16 issues for determination and sought 18 reliefs.
They sought a declaration that by the provision of the PENGASSAN Constitution 2022; the affairs of a branch of the association cannot be administered with a caretaker committee for more than three months within which a branch election shall be conducted.
Other reliefs, among others are: ‘A DECLARATION that by the provision of the PENGASSAN Constitution 2022; the affairs of a Branch of the Association cannot be administered with a Caretaker Committee for more than three (3) months within which a branch election shall be conducted.
‘A DECLARATION that the act of running any branch of the PENGASSAN with a Caretaker Committee for over a period of three (3) months is unconstitutional, illegal and unknown to the PENGASSAN Constitution.
‘A DECLARATION that the suspension of the Claimants by the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the 1st defendant on 18th August, 2025, pursuant to the recommendation of an Ethical, Grievance and Disciplinary Committee (EG C) not constituted by the branch executive committee (BECOM) is unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.
‘A DECLARATION that the constitution of a Caretaker Committee (CTC) by the Central Working Committee (CWC) after the expiration of the Branch Executive Committee’s tenure, in the absence of either a merger or disciplinary dissolution of BECOM, instead of conducting elections, as mandated by the constitution is unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.’