Dangote vs NUPENG: Union insists on going for strike, meets FG, others today

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers announced on Sunday that it would proceed with a strike starting today (Monday), despite the Federal Government's efforts to resolve the union's grievances.

NUPENG President, Williams Akporeha, confirmed that the Federal Government had contacted the union to discuss ways to prevent the strike. Nevertheless, he maintained that the industrial action would continue, pending the results of the meeting with the government today (Monday).

The union had previously declared on Friday that it would initiate an industrial action on September 8, 2025, a situation that could potentially result in fuel shortages. This decision was prompted by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery's intention to import 4,000 Compressed Natural Gas-powered trucks for direct fuel distribution to retailers.

Although the initiative, which was initially set to commence on August 15, faced delays due to logistical issues in China, the refinery stated that operations would begin once a significant number of the trucks arrived.

In a statement co-signed by Akporeha and General Secretary Afolabi Olawale on Friday, NUPENG accused the Dangote refinery of engaging in anti-labour practices that jeopardized the livelihoods of its Petroleum Tanker Drivers branch members.

The union expressed concern that the refinery's owner, Aliko Dangote, had insisted that new drivers for the imported trucks would not be permitted to join any union. This decision was characterized as a violation of the freedom of association guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution and a breach of international labour conventions to which Nigeria is a signatory.

NUPENG noted that it had conducted multiple meetings, in conjunction with the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, to urge Dangote to reconsider his stance. However, its requests were reportedly disregarded. The situation escalated when MRS oil firm, owned by Dangote's cousin, Sayyu Dantata, allegedly began recruiting drivers for the CNG trucks and required them to sign agreements prohibiting union membership.

Consequently, NUPENG announced that its members would cease fuel loading across the nation starting Monday if the issue remained unresolved, asserting that the union would not remain passive while jobs were being compromised.

To prevent the strike, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, declared on Sunday that he had convened all parties for a conciliation meeting in Abuja. This intervention seeks to alleviate escalating tensions regarding purported anti-unionization measures at the refinery.

In a statement issued by the ministry’s Head of Information and Public Relations, Patience Onuobia, Dingyadi urged NUPENG to postpone its intended shutdown of petroleum operations and requested the Nigeria Labour Congress to retract the “red alert” it had issued in support of oil workers.

“I have summoned all parties for a conciliation meeting tomorrow, Monday, September 8, 2025. In light of my intervention, I implore NUPENG to reconsider their decision to halt operations in the petroleum sector starting tomorrow. I also urge the NLC to withdraw the red alert it has issued to its affiliated unions to prepare for a nationwide strike,” Dingyadi stated.

The minister cautioned that industrial action in the petroleum sector would lead to widespread hardship throughout the country and result in significant losses to government revenue.

“The petroleum sector is crucial to this nation. It forms the backbone of the country’s economy. A strike in this sector, even for a single day, will have detrimental effects. It will not only result in revenue losses amounting to billions of naira but also inflict severe hardship on Nigerians,” he warned.

He further urged all stakeholders to foster peace, assuring that the government would facilitate a resolution that is acceptable to both labor and the private refinery. “The issue will be resolved amicably to the satisfaction of all parties involved,” the minister concluded.

No turning back

In a discussion with one of our correspondents, the president of NUPENG acknowledged that the government had invited the union to a meeting regarding the issue, but he firmly stated that the group would commence its strike today.

Akporeha mentioned that both the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company had contacted the union concerning the anticipated strike. However, he noted that the government's intervention was insufficient to prevent the planned strike.

"The Federal Government and the NNPC are making contact, but there is nothing substantial as of yet," Akporeha stated. When asked if the strike would still commence on Monday, Akporeha confirmed, "Yes, although the Minister of Labour has requested a meeting. This meeting is scheduled for tomorrow (Monday) in Abuja. Nevertheless, the strike will begin tomorrow morning as intended."

Support from Marketers

Unless there is a last-minute change, marketers of petroleum products have indicated that they will close their filling stations if the planned strike by tanker drivers, stemming from their conflict with the Dangote Group, takes effect on Monday.

Billy Gillis-Harry, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, stated in an interview on Sunday that filling stations would need to shut down if the strike commences today (Monday). He characterized the strike as an impending threat.

According to Gillis-Harry, some of PETROAN’s staff are NUPENG members, and they would join the strike. “PETROAN will have no choice because some of our staff are members of NUPENG. And once those people go on strike, our stations will be vulnerable, so we will not open the stations.

That is our concern. The reality is that if our pump attendants, who are members of NUPENG, don’t come to work for any reason, what are we going to do in these stations?” he said.

He announced PETROAN’s three-day suspension of lifting and dispensing of petroleum products commencing from the early hours of Tuesday, September 9, 2025, saying this was PETROAN’s advocacy for healthy competition “as against any form of monopoly in the Nigerian petroleum downstream sector.

He emphasised that the action of NUPENG would be both lawful and peaceful, underscoring the association’s commitment to promoting workers’ rights and benefits through constructive engagement.

He called on President Bola Tinubu, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC, Bayo Ojulari, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and security agencies to intervene urgently in the proposed industrial actions to avert potential hardship and pain for citizens.

While making it clear that pump attendants at PETROAN filling stations are registered members of NUPENG, he said NUPENG’s strike would mean these attendants would be absent from duty. As a result, he instructed filling station owners not to discipline or sack any pump attendant who would be absent from duty until the end of the strike.

Gillis-Harry stated that “the aggressive business strategies of the Dangote refinery would have far-reaching consequences, including pushing private depot owners, modular refinery operators, marketers, retail owners, truck owners, and truck drivers out of business.” This, he warned, would trigger millions of unemployed persons nationwide, with devastating effects on the economy and the livelihoods of Nigerians.

NUPENG had said in a statement on Sunday that there was no going back on the planned industrial action. The union’s president insisted that the Petroleum Tanker Drivers branch of its union would refrain from lifting petroleum products from depots nationwide, starting from Monday.

NUPENG also disowned a statement attributed to the President of the Direct Trucking Company Drivers Association, Enoch Kanawa, which claimed that NUPENG could not speak for members of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers.

In a statement on Saturday, Kanawa had urged Nigerians to disregard the planned industrial action. But the leadership of NUPENG declared that the Kanawa-led DTCDA was a creation of the management of the Dangote refinery, which has allegedly vowed not to allow its recruited truck drivers to “join NUPENG, the only statutorily recognised union authorised to unionise petroleum tanker drivers.”

The statement declared that Kanawa is a lawyer and not a tanker driver, maintaining that there is no division in the ranks of NUPENG or its PTD Branch. It further alleged that the Direct Trucking Company Limited is the recruiting company that was formed by Alhaji Sayyu Dantata and Alhaji Aliko Dangote for the 4,000 CNG trucks they are importing.

“The attention of the leadership of the NUPENG has been drawn to a news report of some unidentified persons and a group of people calling themselves the Direct Trucking Company Drivers Association, asking Nigerians to disregard our alert on the withdrawal of services by the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch of NUPENG.

“We ask our members, members of the public, and independent-minded objective segments of the media to disregard DTCDA and its statements. The signatory to the statement of DTCDA, one Enoch Kanawa, is a lawyer, not a tanker driver. Enoch Kanawa signed the statement as the President of DTCDA.

“The media should ask Kanawa wh