The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has leveled serious accusations against the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, alleging a deliberate campaign to weaken union activities and suppress workers’ rights.
In a statement released on Friday, signed by the union’s National President, Williams Akporeha, and General Secretary, Afolabi Olawale, NUPENG accused the company of resisting the unionisation of its tanker drivers, fostering internal divisions, and spreading “capitalist falsehoods” aimed at discrediting the union.
The union also described the refinery’s offer of free nationwide fuel delivery as a strategic ploy to undercut competition and stifle labour resistance, referring to the gesture as a “Greek gift.”
“What Dangote is offering Nigerians may appear generous on the surface, but it is a calculated attempt to monopolise fuel distribution and sideline the rights of workers,” the union stated.
The row between the two parties intensified after NUPENG shut down fuel depots earlier this week in protest against the refinery’s alleged refusal to allow the newly recruited drivers of its 4,000 compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered trucks to join the union. The action lasted from Monday to Tuesday, before being suspended following a mediation meeting brokered by the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
However, just days after the truce, the union claims the refinery violated the agreement reached.
According to NUPENG, although a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on September 9 which acknowledged the company’s earlier resistance to unionisation management allegedly backtracked almost immediately. By September 11, the union says, Dangote officials instructed drivers to remove NUPENG stickers from their trucks and replace them with emblems of a newly formed association called the Direct Trucking Company Drivers Association (DTCDA).
The union alleges this group was created by the refinery to function as a rival organisation within the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of NUPENG.
“Our members have stood firm against this manipulation,” the statement read. “The refinery has been trying to sponsor a parallel structure within PTD since 2023 by recruiting individuals who previously lost internal union elections.”
NUPENG further claimed that some of the individuals who have publicly backed the Dangote Group are linked to ongoing criminal investigations.
In its own statement earlier on Thursday, the Dangote Refinery strongly denied the allegations, describing them as baseless and misleading. Spokesperson for the Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, maintained that the company is fully committed to constitutional labour rights and does not restrict employees from joining legally recognised unions.
“We do not, and will not, infringe on the rights of our employees to freely associate,” the company said, adding that its new CNG-powered trucking fleet is intended to improve fuel distribution and reduce costs, not to threaten workers’ welfare.
NUPENG, however, insists the evidence tells a different story, and it warned that the same anti-union practices observed in Dangote’s cement and sugar operations are now being replicated at the refinery.
“It is a known fact that unionisation is not allowed in Dangote’s other facilities and now this same strategy is being extended to the downstream oil sector,” the union claimed.
Calling on Nigerians and the international community to take note, NUPENG urged widespread support for refinery workers and tanker drivers fighting for the right to unionise. The union also cautioned that its leaders must not be targeted or harmed during the ongoing dispute.
“Our solidarity remains constant, for the union makes us strong,” the statement concluded.
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