Members of the Port Harcourt Refining Company Support Staff Union have issued a forty-eight-hour ultimatum to the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), threatening a total shutdown of the Eleme complex in Rivers State over unpaid wages and unfulfilled pay agreements.
Operations at the refinery gate were temporarily disrupted on Monday as aggrieved workers pitched tents, displayed placards, and barricaded the entrance to protest against perceived injustice and marginalisation. Placards carried messages demanding fair pay, opposing delays, and insisting that a proposed implementation date of January 2027 was far too late.
The union is pressing four central demands: the immediate clearance of seven months of outstanding salaries and entitlements, the swift implementation of the newly approved pay structure, an urgent approval of a ₦1 million housing and rent relief allowance for eligible personnel, and improved dialogue between labour representatives, managing directors, and the refinery leadership on staff welfare.
Trouble mounted after the Refinery Coordinator, Bayo Adelere, reportedly refused to enforce the revised pay policy despite its endorsement by NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer Bayo Ojulari. Speaking during the demonstration, Union Chairman Bennett Isy explained that the agreement was scheduled to take effect on 1 October 2026, but management has taken no action.
Isy condemned the delay as insubordination against the GCEO and appealed directly to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene and restrain the Refinery Coordinator. Addressing journalists, Isy said: “We are saying that we are not backing down. We are following all due process to ensure that what rightly belongs to us gets to us; but if it is not implemented in the next 48 hours, to God, we are going to shut down this refinery. Not one soul will gain access to these premises. That I assure you.”
Demonstrators recounted severe hardships caused by non-payment and hazardous working conditions, while demanding Adelere’s immediate dismissal. Union member Joy Osueiya rejected management’s suggestion to delay the new pay scheme until 2027, highlighting the physical sacrifices made by workers. She said: “Why will the GCEO approve something to be implemented for us on October 1, and the RC will say no? We object to it. A lot of us have lost loved ones in this refinery.”
Another staff member, Godspower Nwakanji, similarly called for presidential action, questioning how workers could maintain hope through poverty, hunger, and a decade without medical support.