Chinedu Eze The National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Lagos Division, has nullified the September 16, 2025 elections conducted by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) for its Chevron branch and ordered the association to conduct fresh elections within 30 days of judgement. The court also 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 exercise. The verdict was the latest in the intervention of the judiciary in the affairs of PENGASSAN at various branches. It would be recalled that the national leadership of PENGASSAN was equally embroiled in a suspension saga with some branch members of the Nigerian Midstream, Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). In January 2026, the industrial court in Abuja overturned the suspension of the members and ordered the dissolution of the caretaker committee constituted by the Central Working Committee (CWC) of PENGASSAN following the expiration of the tenure of the Branch Executive Committee (BECOM) of the NMDPRA branch on May 27, 2025. In the matter involving the Chevron branch, the 22-page judgment, delivered by Justice Joyce A. O. Damachi in suit No. NICN/LA/214/2025, on August 10, 2026, also declared unconstitutional and void the dissolution of the Chevron Branch Executive Committee (BECOM) and Chapter Executive Committee (CECOM) by PENGASSAN’s Central Working Committee (CWC) on October 8, 2024. The court further invalidated the eight-member caretaker committee subsequently installed to administer the branch, as well as extensions of its tenure beyond the constitutionally prescribed three-month period. The judgment also upheld the validity of the Chevron branch bye-laws dated February 10, 2017, as reviewed in February 2022, declaring the purported unilateral revocation of the bye-laws by PENGASSAN’s National Secretariat on July 8, 2025, unconstitutional and void. The judge equally declared the election guidelines issued by the PENGASSAN National Secretariat on July 30, 2025, unconstitutional, invalid and not binding on the Chevron Branch. Besides, the court set aside the branch delegate and executive elections conducted on September 16, 2025, declaring all offices assumed and actions taken pursuant to the elections a nullity. Justice Damachi further granted a perpetual injunction restraining PENGASSAN, its agents, officers and privies from giving effect to the dissolved caretaker committee, the revoked bye-laws or the September 2025 elections. The judgment followed a suit instituted by seven members of PENGASSAN’s Chevron Branch — Sunday Ebulu, Ete Oyegbanren, Edwin Koloh, Samuel Akinfe, Fola Oyinbo, Alaba Fadola and Jeremiah Odior, against PENGASSAN, its National President, Festus Osifo, General Secretary, Lumumba Ignothemu Okugbawa, and members of the caretaker committee. In ordering fresh elections, the court said the order was a consequential one flowing directly from its earlier findings that the dissolution, caretaker committee, bye-laws revocation and subsequent elections were invalid. Justice Damachi held that a court possessed the inherent power to make consequential orders where necessary to give full effect to its judgment and ensure that justice was completely served. Earlier in the judgment, Damachi had found that the CWC lacked the constitutional basis to dissolve the elected branch leadership in the manner it did, adding that the constitution of an association constituted the “organic contract” binding its members. The court held that PENGASSAN’s constitution required strict compliance with prescribed procedures before an elected branch executive could be removed. It also found that the three-member Fact-Finding Committee whose report formed the basis of the dissolution was unknown to the union’s constitution. Justice Damachi further held that the CWC’s action was invalid because it dissolved the Chevron branch organs on October 8, 2024, without obtaining the prior approval of the National Executive Council (NEC), which was a mandatory condition under the PENGASSAN Constitution. The NEC purportedly approved the dissolution at a meeting on December 3, 2024, about two months after the dissolution had already been effected. According to the judge, trade unions enjoyed protection from employer interference under Nigerian law and relevant international labour standards. On the caretaker committee, the court found that PENGASSAN breached its own constitution by appointing eight members instead of the maximum five allowed under Rule 31.4. Commenting on the issue, the former Secretary, Trade Union Congress (TUC0, Delta State, Ete Oyegb
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