The Lagos division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, has nullified the dissolution of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) Chevron Branch executive committees and the branch elections conducted in September 2025.
Justice Joyce A. O. Damachi, who presided over the court in a judgment delivered on August 10, 2026, also voided the eight-member caretaker committee appointed by the union’s Central Working Committee (CWC), declaring its prolonged tenure unconstitutional.
The judgment was delivered in suit marked NICN/LA/214/2025, filed by seven concerned members of the PENGASSAN Chevron Branch, who are: Sunday Ebulu, Ete Oyegbanren, Edwin Koloh, Samuel Akinfe, Fola Oyinbo, Alaba Fadola and Jeremiah Odior.
While the defendants were; PENGASSAN, its National President, Comrade Festus Osifo, General Secretary, Comrade Lumumba Ighotemu Okugbawa.
Others were: Egbadon Lawrence, Ani Ikechukwu, Ofoma Ugochukwu, Lawal Abdul-kabir Oluwaseyi, Ogbudu Roland, Udolu Paul, Asekutu Wilson and Lavine Aghaunor, who are members of the caretaker committee.
The dispute followed the dissolution of the Chevron Branch Executive Committee (BECOM) and Chapter Executive Committees (CECOM) by the CWC on October 8, 2024, after a controversial vote of no confidence against the branch chairman.
PENGASSAN subsequently constituted an eight-member caretaker committee to administer the branch and later extended its tenure beyond the three-month period prescribed by the union’s constitution.
The claimants through their lawyer, Ebun Olu Adegboruwu who led the dou of Oluwatosin Adesioye and Friday Eneawaji, challenged the actions, arguing that the CWC could not dissolve the branch executive without prior approval of the National Executive Council (NEC) and compliance with the disciplinary procedure prescribed by the union’s constitution.
They Claimants also challenged the revocation of the Chevron Branch bye-laws, which had been reviewed and approved in 2022, as well as election guidelines issued by the national secretariat.
The defendants/respondents through their lawyer, Femi Abimbola, challenged the suit by filing a 50 paragraph-counter affidavit, claiming that the dissolution was a necessary response to administrative paralysis and operational chaos.
The defendants/respondents also argued that the action was subsequently ratified by the National Executive Council (NEC) and that the branch bye-law were lawfully revoked due to non-submissions for mandatory national revalidation.
Delivering judgment in the suit, Justice Damachi agreed with the claimants, holding that the CWC’s dissolution of the branch structures was unconstitutional and void.
The judge noted that Rule 31.2 of the PENGASSAN Constitution empowered the CWC to suspend or dissolve a branch executive only in accordance with the constitution and Schedule 2, and subject to NEC approval.
The court rejected PENGASSAN’s argument that subsequent NEC ratification of the dissolution in December 2024 cured the defect.
According to the court, NEC approval was a condition precedent and had to precede the dissolution. The purported ratification, coming about three months after the October 8, 2024 dissolution, could not breathe life into an act that was void from inception.
The judge also faulted PENGASSAN for relying on a three-member fact-finding committee rather than the disciplinary body prescribed by its constitution.
Justice Damachi further held that the eight-member caretaker committee violated Rule 31.4, which limits such a committee to not more than five persons and a maximum tenure of three months.
On the Chevron Branch bye-laws, the Justice Damachi ruled that although they remained subordinate to the PENGASSAN Constitution, the national leadership lacked the power to unilaterally revoke them.
The judge consequently declared the 2017 bye-laws, as reviewed in February 2022, valid and subsisting. While also nullified the election guidelines issued by the national secretariat on July 30, 2025.
Justice Damachi was particularly critical of the branch elections conducted on September 16, 2025, while the suit and an interlocutory injunction application were pending.
The judge described the elections as an attempt to overreach the court and foist a ‘fait accompli’ on the judicial process, declaring the polls “a complete sham” and setting them aside.
The court ordered PENGASSAN to conduct fresh democratic elections at the Chevron Branch within 30 days, strictly in accordance with the union’s constitution and the extant Chevron Branch bye-laws.
The court further directed the South West Zonal Director of Labour, Federal Ministry of Labour, Lagos, to supervise the fresh elections and submit a compliance report to the court within seven days of the poll.
The court also awarded N1 million costs against PENGASSAN in favour of the claimants.
