Justice Joyce Onugba-Damachi of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), Lagos Division, on Friday, ordered all parties to maintain peace and cooperate with the court in resolving a leadership crisis within the Chevron Branch of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).

The order followed a suit filed by seven senior staff members of Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) challenging the dissolution of the branch’s executive committees and the installation of a Caretaker Committee (CTC) by PENGASSAN’s national leadership.

The suit, marked NICN/LA/214/2025, was brought by Sunday Ebulu, Ete Oyegbanren, Edwin Koloh, Samuel Akinfe, Fola Oyinbo, Alaba Fadola, and Jeremiah Odior, who sued for themselves and as concerned members of the Chevron Branch.

They are asking the court to interpret key provisions of the PENGASSAN Constitution and declare that the actions of the union’s national officers were unlawful.

The defendants are PENGASSAN, its National President, Comrade Festus Osifo, General Secretary, Comrade Lumumba Ighotemu Okugbawa, and eight members of the Chevron Branch Caretaker Committee.

At yesterday’s proceedings, claimants’ counsel, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, withdrew a pending motion for interlocutory reliefs to allow for a speedy determination of the substantive case.

Defence counsel, Ambassador Sola Iji, did not oppose the move.

Justice Onugba-Damachi granted the withdrawal and directed that the case file be reassigned to another judge for accelerated hearing, explaining that as a vacation judge, she could not hear or decide the main suit.

In their affidavit, the claimants stated that the Chevron Branch had operated under its bye-laws, adopted in 2017 and approved by the National Secretariat, until September 2024 when its Branch Executive Council passed a vote of no confidence in the Branch Chairman and requested his removal.

They alleged that instead of investigating the matter, the PENGASSAN President and General Secretary dissolved the entire Branch and Chapter Executive Committees in October 2024 and constituted an eight-member Caretaker Committee, contrary to Rule 32.4 of the union’s constitution, which limits such committees to five members and a three-month tenure.

They alleged further that no disciplinary procedure was followed before the dissolution and that the Caretaker Committee’s tenure has been repeatedly and unlawfully extended, most recently on April 7, 2025.

The claimants are also challenging the purported revocation of the Chevron Branch bye-laws, which they insist remain valid since no National Executive Council resolution has been communicated.

They also fault the July 30, 2025 election guidelines, which reversed the traditional order of elections by conducting Branch elections before Chapter elections and allowed delegates to be appointed by the Caretaker Committee rather than elected by members.

According to Ebulu, these actions have disenfranchised over 1,200 members of the Chevron Branch and threaten the peace and progress of the association.

He urged the court to intervene urgently to prevent further injustice and disruption of the union’s operations.

Justice Onugba-Damachi directed all parties to maintain peace, and cooperate with the court to enable a speedy resolution of the dispute. (THISDAY)