FG’s meeting with Dangote, NUPENG ends without resolution
FG’s meeting with Dangote, NUPENG ends without resolution
The reconciliation meeting convened by the Federal Ministry of Labour between Dangote Refinery and the National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers ended in deadlock on Monday night.
The session, which lasted nearly seven hours, was attended by NUPENG national executives, officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, the Executive Director of Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure at the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Ogbugo Ukoha, as well as representatives of the Dangote Group and MRS Petroleum. It was co-chaired by the Minister of Labour, Muhammed Dingyadi, and the Minister of State for Labour, Nkeiru Onyejeocha.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, NLC spokesperson Benson Upah said, “The representative of Dangote Refinery walked out on the minister and organised labour. Was there any agreement? No. Even when we bent backwards to accommodate his rigid stance, he still acted otherwise. We are therefore left with no choice but to proceed with our action. The struggle continues.”
NUPENG had on Friday announced that it would begin an industrial action on September 8, 2025, a move that could trigger fuel scarcity.
The decision followed the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s plan to import 4,000 Compressed Natural Gas-powered trucks for direct fuel distribution to retailers.
Although the scheme, initially slated to commence on August 15, was delayed due to logistics challenges in China, the refinery stated it would begin once a substantial number of the trucks had 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.
The meeting, which was earlier scheduled to start by 10:00 am on Monday, suffered a setback and did not start until minutes past 5 pm due to the late arrival of Union officials.
According to sources at the meeting, the Labour Ministry, acting as an intermediary, presented the resolutions of the Memorandum of Understanding for all parties to review, agree on, and sign.
However, disagreements from some Dangote Group officials over certain resolutions prompted the need for further discussions.
