The Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) have appealed to President Bola Tinubu and other key stakeholders to urgently intervene in the escalating dispute between the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Dangote Refinery.
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The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has also waded into the crisis, accusing the refinery of anti-labour practices and warning that the situation, if left unresolved, could set a dangerous precedent in Nigeria’s labour relations.
NUPENG announced on Friday that it would commence nationwide industrial action on Monday, September 8, over the Dangote Refinery’s plan to import 4,000 compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered trucks for direct distribution of fuel to retailers.
The union alleged that refinery owner Aliko Dangote insisted that newly recruited drivers for the trucks would be barred from joining trade unions. NUPENG described this as an affront to workers’ constitutional right to freedom of association and a breach of international labour conventions signed by Nigeria.
In a joint statement by its President, Williams Akporeha, and General Secretary, Afolabi Olawale, NUPENG said several appeals to Dangote, alongside the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), were ignored. The matter worsened last week when MRS, owned by Dangote’s cousin, Sayyu Aliu Dantata, allegedly began recruiting drivers for the CNG trucks on the condition that they sign undertakings not to belong to any oil and gas union.
The union vowed to stop fuel loading nationwide from September 8 if the issues remain unresolved.
PETROAN President, Billy Gillis-Harry, warned of “looming danger” and urged the government to mediate before the strike commences.
“PETROAN’s position is that we are calling on the President, the authority chief of the NMDPRA, the NSA, the IG, and the DSS to intervene and quickly bring everybody to the roundtable before 12 noon on Monday,” Gillis-Harry said.
He stressed that no single company should be allowed to dominate the sector or undermine workers’ welfare.
Similarly, IPMAN’s National President, Abubakar Maigandi, confirmed that marketers were engaging both parties and would continue discussions on Monday.
“We are still appealing to NUPENG and Dangote to reconcile. With work resuming on Monday, we will see how best to talk to the tanker drivers,” Maigandi said.
The NLC threw its weight behind NUPENG, describing Dangote Group’s labour policies as “crude and dangerous.”
Its President, Joe Ajaero, accused the company of paying some of the lowest wages in the oil and gas sector, casualising workers, ignoring safety standards, and recruiting foreign workers over qualified Nigerians.
“The revelations contained in NUPENG’s statement represent not just an attack on petroleum workers but a full-blown declaration of war against trade unionism,” the NLC said.
The congress announced that it had placed workers on red alert and would mobilise a united labour front against Dangote if the company continued on what it called a “reckless anti-union path.”
In a related development, the Western Zone of IPMAN announced readiness to shut operations in solidarity with NUPENG.
Its Chairman, Oyewole Akanni, said Dangote Refinery’s direct distribution model threatened over 4,000 trucks operated by IPMAN members and violated the Petroleum Industry Act, which bars refiners from direct involvement in distribution.
Akanni insisted that the Federal Government must enforce the law to prevent monopoly in the downstream sector.
However, the Direct Trucking Company Drivers Association (DTCDA) distanced itself from the planned strike.
In a statement signed by its National President, Enoch Kanawa, the group emphasised that drivers had the right to choose organisations that best served their interests.
“The DTCDA is in full support of deregulation and the Renewed Hope agenda of the President. Our members are poised to play an integral role in fuel distribution nationwide,” Kanawa said
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