The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers on Sunday declared that it would still embark on strike beginning from today (Monday), despite the intervention of the Federal Government to address the grievances of the union.
NUPENG President, Williams Akporeha, confirmed that the Federal Government had reached out to the union on the need to avert the strike. He, however, insisted that the industrial action would go ahead, pending the outcome of the meeting with the government today (Monday).
The union had on Friday announced that it would begin an industrial action on September 8, 2025, a development that could lead to fuel scarcity. Its decision stemmed from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s plan to import 4,000 Compressed Natural Gas-powered trucks for direct fuel distribution to retailers.
Although the scheme, earlier scheduled to begin on August 15, was delayed by logistics challenges in China, the refinery said it would kick off once a substantial number of the trucks arrived.
But in a statement jointly signed by Akporeha and the General Secretary, Afolabi Olawale, on Friday, NUPENG accused the Dangote refinery of anti-labour practices that threatened the livelihoods of members of its Petroleum Tanker Drivers branch.
The union lamented that the refinery’s owner, Aliko Dangote, had insisted that new drivers for the imported trucks would not be allowed to join any union. It described the decision as an affront to freedom of association guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution and a breach of international labour conventions to which Nigeria is a signatory.
NUPENG recalled that it had held several meetings, alongside the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, to persuade Dangote to reconsider. However, its appeals were allegedly ignored. The matter got to its climax when MRS oil firm, owned by Dangote’s cousin, Sayyu Dantata, reportedly began the recruitment of drivers for the CNG truck and compelled them to sign undertakings not to belong to any oil and gas union.
As a result, NUPENG said its members would stop fuel loading nationwide from Monday if the situation remained unresolved, saying the union would not stand by while jobs were being eroded.
In a bid to avert the strike, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, announced on Sunday that he had summoned all parties to a conciliation meeting in Abuja. The intervention aims to defuse rising tensions over alleged anti-unionisation policies at the refinery.
in a chat with one of our correspondents, the NUPENG president, who admitted that the union was invited by the government to a meeting on the matter, insisted that the group would begin its strike today.
Akporeha said the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company have reached out to the union over the planned strike. He, however, told The PUNCH that the intervention of the government was not enough to stop the planned strike.
“The Federal Government and the NNPC are reaching out, but there is nothing concrete yet,” Akporeha said. Asked if the strike would still start on Monday, Akporeha replied, “Yes, though the Minister of Labour has called for a meeting. The meeting will be held tomorrow (Monday) in Abuja. But the strike starts tomorrow morning as planned.”
Marketers back NUPENG
Barring any last-minute reversal, marketers of petroleum products have said they would shut down their filling stations should the planned strike by tanker drivers over their face-off with the Dangote Group start on Monday.
The National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, told The PUNCH in an interview on Sunday that filling stations would have to close down if the strike starts today (Monday). He described the strike as a looming danger.
In a statement signed by the ministry’s Head of Information and Public Relations, Patience Onuobia, Dingyadi appealed to NUPENG to suspend its planned shutdown of petroleum operations and called on the Nigeria Labour Congress to withdraw the “red alert” it issued in solidarity with oil workers.
The petroleum sector is very important to this country. It constitutes the core of the country’s economy. A strike in the petroleum sector, even for just a day, will have an adverse impact. It will not only lead to revenue losses running into billions of naira but also cause untold hardship for Nigerians,” he cautioned.
He also called on all stakeholders to allow peace to prevail, assuring that the government will broker a resolution acceptable to both labour and the private refinery. “The matter will be resolved amicably to the satisfaction of all the parties involved,” the minister stated.
