The Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) have asked President Bola Tinubu and other stakeholders to intervene in the dispute between the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Dangote Refinery.
However, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), while also calling for urgent intervention in the standoff, accused the Dangote refinery of anti-labor practices.
This comes after NUPENG announced on Friday that it would begin industrial action on Monday, September 8.
The disagreement centers on Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s plans to import 4,000 compressed natural gas-powered trucks for direct gasoline delivery to merchants.
Although the program, which was supposed to start on August 15, was delayed due to logistics issues in China, the refinery indicated it would begin once a large number of trucks arrived.
However, in a statement issued jointly by its president, Williams Akporeha, and general secretary, Afolabi Olawale, on Friday, NUPENG accused the Dangote Refinery of anti-labor actions that endanger the welfare of its Petroleum and Tanker Drivers branch members.
The union stated that Aliko Dangote, the refinery’s owner, had requested that new drivers for imported trucks be barred from joining any union.
The ruling was seen as an affront to the freedom of association granted by the 1999 Constitution, as well as a violation of international labor treaties to which Nigeria is a signatory.
NUPENG stated that it has held many discussions with the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners to convince Dangote to reconsider.
However, its requests were reportedly ignored.
Last Friday, MRS, owned by Dangote’s cousin, Sayyu Aliu Dantata, allegedly began recruiting drivers for the CNG vehicles, forcing them to sign agreements not to join any oil and gas union.
The union stated that it could not stand by as employment was being lost.
NUPENG stated its members will stop loading petroleum nationwide on Monday, September 8, if the situation is not handled.
Billy Gillis-Harry, National President of PETROAN, denounced the impending strike as a looming danger and urged that it be avoided.
He said, “PETROAN’s position is that we are calling on the President, the authority chief of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, to mediate and ensure that the strike action does not take place as planned.”
Gillis-Harry stated that a single company should not dominate the value chain.
“We are saying that the worries of NUPENG and PTD are correct, because you cannot wake up and just come and take off the value from the union with the kind of capacity that you have.
“You don’t want to give anti-competitive values, even in the welfare of workers. So, PETROAN’s position is that we are calling on the President, the National Security Advisor, the IG, and the DSS to intervene and quickly bring everybody to the roundtable before 12 noon, or before 12, on Monday, so that we can discuss it.
“You know, we shouldn’t listen to people who are on the side supporting or not supporting the decision. It’s a looming danger, and we in PETROAN already understand the dynamics of the difficulties that will come.
“This is what we have been shouting since the month of January or so, when we started talking about issues that will be tantamount to anti-competitive tendencies,” he added.
The IPMAN National President, Abubakar Maigandi, said oil marketers were working towards reconciling the parties and would continue the engagement on Monday.
He said, “We are still appealing to the NUPENG members and Dangote to see how they can reconcile their differences.
“I cannot really say what the implication of the tanker drivers’ strike may be for now. We can only appeal to them to make peace with the other party.
“With work resuming fully on Monday, we will see how we can talk to the tanker drivers. I am sure we will then really hear what is going on.”
In a statement issued on Saturday, NLC President Joe Ajaero said Labour has reviewed NUPENG’s petition and condemned the Dangote Group’s activities as “crude and dangerous.”
The NLC also stated that identical complaints had been filed by other unions representing workers throughout the group’s diverse operations, including cement, sugar, and flour, indicating a larger pattern of labor issues.
“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 and the principle of decent work,” the NLC said.
It accused the petroleum business of paying some of the lowest wages in the oil and gas industry, refusing employees the opportunity to join trade unions of their choice, and encouraging casualization and dangerous working practices.
The NLC further criticized the group’s purported bias for recruiting foreign nationals over qualified Nigerians, citing previous recruitments of welders and fitters from India while skilled Nigerians went unemployed.
According to Congress, such activities amounted to exploitation and monopolistic control, which contradicted the Dangote Refinery project’s promises of industrialization, job creation, and national growth.
The NLC highlighted the national significance of the anti-union practices, warning that if left unchecked, they might create a dangerous precedent, allowing big firms to violate Nigerian labor laws and international treaties on freedom of association and collective bargaining.
The congress announced a number of steps, including putting Nigerian workers and unions on red alert, forming a united front against the Dangote Group’s labor violations, and backing NUPENG’s proposed industrial action if the refinery did not comply.
It urged the Federal Government and regulatory bodies, notably the Nigerian Midstream & Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, to step in and guarantee compliance with labor laws.
“The attack on NUPENG is an attack on us all. Nigerian workers are not slaves and cannot be serially abused without consequences,” the NLC statement said.
“If Dangote continues on this reckless anti-union path, we will confront this tyranny head-on until victory is secured for Nigerian workers and the Nigerian people.”
The IPMAN Western Zone Chairman, Oyewole Akanni, confirmed the association’s willingness to cease operations on the specified date.
This decision, he stated, came after a zonal council meeting attended by members, officials, depot chairmen, and secretaries from across the Southwest.
“The strike is in solidarity with NUPENG over job security concerns for petroleum tanker drivers,” he said.
Akanni warned that Dangote Refinery and MRS Energy’s entry into petrol distribution could jeopardize over 4,000 trucks operated by IPMAN members and threaten thousands of jobs.
“More importantly, such a move also negates the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, which prohibits a company refining crude oil from directly engaging in product distribution. This is a flagrant disobedience of the law guiding operations in the downstream sector,” he added.
Akanni urged the Federal Government to uphold the Petroleum Industry Act, vowing resistance to any monopoly in the sector.
