Court nullifies dissolution of PENGASSAN Chevron branch

The National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Ikoyi, Lagos, presided over by Justice Joyce A. O. Damachi, has nullified the dissolution of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Chevron Branch executive committees and voided the branch elections conducted in September 2025.

In a judgment delivered on August 10, 2026, in suit No. NICN/LA/214/2025, the judge also declared the eight-member caretaker committee appointed by the union’s Central Working Committee, CWC, unconstitutional and ordered fresh democratic elections within 30 days.

It would be recalled that the legal action was initiated by seven concerned members of the PENGASSAN Chevron Branch — Sunday Ebulu, Ete Oyegbanren, Edwin Koloh, Samuel Akinfe, Fola Oyinbo, Alaba Fadola and Jeremiah Odior — against PENGASSAN, its National President, Comrade Festus Osifo, General Secretary, Comrade Lumumba Ighotemu Okugbawa, and eight members of the caretaker committee: Egbadon Lawrence, Ani Ikechukwu, Ofoma Ugochukwu, Lawal Abdul-kabir Oluwaseyi, Ogbudu Roland, Udolu Paul, Asekutu Wilson and Lavine Aghaunor.

The battle started on October 8, 2024, when the CWC dissolved the Chevron Branch Executive Committee, BECOM, and Chapter Executive Committees, CECOM, following a vote of no confidence against the branch chairman.

This prompted the CWC to constitute an eight-member caretaker committee and extend its tenure beyond the three-month limit prescribed by the union’s constitution.

In addressing the court, the counsel for the claimants, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, argued that the CWC lacked powers to dissolve the branch without prior approval of the National Executive Council, NEC, and without complying with the disciplinary procedure in the union’s constitution.

He questioned the revocation of the Chevron Branch bye-laws reviewed and approved in 2022 and the election guidelines issued by the national secretariat.

But in a 50-paragraph counter-affidavit, the counsel for PENGASSAN, Femi Abimbola, contended that the dissolution was necessary to address administrative paralysis, that it was later ratified by NEC in December 2024, and that the bye-laws were lawfully revoked for failure to submit for revalidation.

Handing down her judgment, Justice Damachi held that Rule 31.2 of the PENGASSAN Constitution empowers the CWC to suspend or dissolve a branch executive only in accordance with the constitution and Schedule 2, and subject to prior NEC approval.

The judge threw out the argument that subsequent NEC ratification cured the defect, ruling that NEC approval was a condition precedent, and that a post-facto ratification three months later could not validate an act that was void ab initio.

The trial court frowned at the union for using a three-member fact-finding committee instead of the constitutionally prescribed disciplinary organ.

As it relates to the caretaker committee, the judge declared that it violated Rule 31.4, which limits membership to not more than five persons and tenure to a maximum of three months.

Concerning the bye-laws, Justice Damachi held that while subordinate to the PENGASSAN Constitution, the national leadership lacked powers to unilaterally revoke them, just as she declared the 2017 bye-laws, as reviewed in February 2022, valid and subsisting, and nullified the election guidelines issued on July 30, 2025.

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The trial judge described the branch elections conducted on September 16, 2025, while the suit and an interlocutory injunction application were pending, as an attempt to overreach the court and foist a fait accompli on the judiciary, declaring the polls a complete sham and setting them aside.

Justice Damachi ordered PENGASSAN to conduct fresh, democratic elections at the Chevron Branch within 30 days in strict compliance with the union’s constitution and the extant Chevron Branch bye-laws.

The court further mandated the South West Zonal Director of Labour, Federal Ministry of Labour, Lagos, to supervise the fresh elections and submit a compliance report within seven days of the poll.

Justice Damachi awarded N1 million in costs in favour of the claimants against PENGASSAN.