By Lawani Mikairu

Fifteen staff members of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) have taken the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to court over their suspension and the appointment of a caretaker committee for the NMDPRA branch in Abuja.

The aggrieved members, suing for themselves and as concerned members of the PENGASSAN NMDPRA branch, filed the case—NICN/ABJ/307/2025—before the National Industrial Court sitting in Abuja.

In their suit, they are seeking a declaration that, under the PENGASSAN Constitution (2022), the affairs of any branch of the association cannot be administered by a caretaker committee for more than three months, within which a fresh election must be conducted.

The defendants include PENGASSAN, its National President Festus Osifo, General Secretary Lumumba Okugbawa, and members of the caretaker committee — Tony Izogba, Gbolahan Akinyo, Okechukwu Nwanko, Abba Safana, and Polycarp Ihejirika.

The legal action marks a new twist in the leadership crisis rocking the NMDPRA branch of PENGASSAN, following the suspension of some members by the national leadership. The development adds to a growing list of internal disputes between PENGASSAN and its branches.

The association is currently engaged in similar disputes with its branches in Shell, Chevron, and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

In a related development, the National Industrial Court sitting in Lagos recently ordered all parties involved in the leadership tussle at the Chevron branch of PENGASSAN to maintain peace and cooperate with the court.

Trial judge, Justice Joyce Onugba-Damachi, issued the directive while hearing a suit filed by seven senior Chevron staff members challenging the union’s national leadership over the dissolution of the branch executive and the installation of a caretaker committee.

It will be recalled that several members had earlier rejected the caretaker committee installed by the PENGASSAN National Secretariat on June 27, describing the action as unconstitutional, undemocratic, and a violation of the union’s internal rules.