Barely two days after suspending its nationwide strike, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has accused Dangote Refinery of reneging on a labour agreement and warned it may resume industrial action.
Gatekeepers News reports that in a statement jointly signed by its President, Williams Akporeha, and General Secretary, Afolabi Olawale, the union alleged that the refinery’s management was backtracking on commitments made during a high-level meeting with the Federal Government and other stakeholders.
“We are by this statement placing all our members on red alert for the resumption of the suspended nationwide industrial action,” NUPENG declared.
“We call on the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, civil society organisations, and the international working community to rise in solidarity against this threat of the capitalist world.”
Dispute Over Unionisation
At a meeting convened on September 8 by the Department of State Services (DSS) and attended by Finance Minister Wale Edun, labour leaders, and the refinery’s management, all parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recognising employees’ rights to unionise.
According to the MoU, the process of unionisation at Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals was to commence immediately and be completed within two weeks. The agreement also barred the employer from creating a parallel union and assured that no worker would be victimised.
But NUPENG now claims that, despite this resolution, its Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) members were ordered on Wednesday to remove union stickers from their trucks.
“Security agents should not allow an individual to ride roughshod with impunity, even while not observing terms of agreement reached in meetings in which security agents facilitated, along with ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the union stated.
NUPENG had gone on strike earlier in the week, alleging that Dangote Refinery was recruiting new tanker drivers on the condition that they not join the union. Dangote management dismissed the allegations as “cheap blackmail.”
The dispute comes as the $20 billion refinery—Africa’s largest, with a 650,000 barrels-per-day capacity—reshapes Nigeria’s downstream oil sector. While it has reduced petrol imports and disrupted long-standing supply chains, it has also triggered monopoly concerns.
Dangote Group had announced plans to deploy thousands of compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered trucks for nationwide fuel distribution, but the rollout has faced delays, fuelling tensions with NUPENG, whose members operate more than 20,000 diesel-powered tankers.
During the strike, Dangote spokesman Anthony Chiejina insisted operations were unaffected.
“There is no fuel shortage, everything is going on,” he said, stressing that talks were ongoing at the time.
The Federal Ministry of Labour has yet to issue a formal response, though officials have urged both parties to uphold the terms of the signed agreement.
