September 14, (THEWILL) — Fearing a possible breakdown of law and order if the lingering dispute between the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG and Dangote Refinery leads to fuel scarcity nationwide, the Directorate of State Services, DSS, summoned both parties to another roundtable at the weekend.
In a disturbing twist of events, NUPENG, on Friday, September 12, mobilised its petroleum tanker drivers to block Dangote Refinery’s entrance in Lagos with their trucks.
This was barely 48 hours after the Department of State Services brokered an agreement between the parties, suggesting that the reconciliatory deal collapsed.
The DSS had on Tuesday brokered peace between the duo after the first reconciliatory meeting that was held last Monday at the Ministry of Labour and Employment in Abuja ended in a stalemate over a dispute that borders on unionisation.
However, following a closed-door meeting that was held at the headquarters of the secret police in Abuja, the leadership of NUPENG directed its members to suspend the nationwide industrial action earlier embarked upon to protest Dangote Group’s decision against unionism in the organisation.
The latest development followed the directive by NUPENG’s leadership to its members to halt loading of fuel at the loading bay of the refinery on Thursday in response to Dangote Refinery’s directive to its drivers to remove all the union stickers pasted on their trucks on Wednesday – signaling a decision to renege on the agreement reached at the peace deal.
This has sparked a worrying dimension that could create severe economic challenges in a country that was held in the claws of corruption and impunity as the nation’s four refineries remained moribund for over two decades.
According to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, after the Friday meeting, “President Bola Tinubu directed the Director-General of the DSS, Oluwatosin Ajayi to join hands with him to ensure that NUPENG’s actions did not cause untold hardship for Nigerians.
The Dangote Group, led by Alhaji Sayyu Dantata of MRS Oil who led the Dangote Group and the NUPENG team led by its president, Williams Akporeha, resolved to stick to the contents of the MoU, uphold existing labour laws, with emphasis that employees must not be compelled to join any union and should retain the freedom to either affiliate with or decline membership of any labour body.
THEWILL gathered that although the Trade Union Act of 1978 created NUPENG and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, to unionise junior workers in the oil sector and to safeguard the welfare and interests of upper and middle-level employees, respectively, the organisation is unduly protective of its interest to the negligence of liberalisation and deregulation trends in the downstream oil sector that allowed for the emergence of private refineries like the Dangote Refinery.
Since the current democratic dispensation when the Federal Government intensified efforts to free the petroleum sector from government monopoly and allow new players to invest in refining, storage and distribution infrastructure, particularly after former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government failed to privatise the state refineries, leading to almost $20 billion wasted in their maintenance over the years, organisations like NUPENG, which has been part of the rotten system, will always rise to maintain the status quo.
In the same vein, the new order as it is being championed by the likes of Dangote Refinery under the favourable prevailing open market policy enabled by deregulation and liberalisation of the sector, would want to insist on having its way to the point of protection against interference as shown in its planned deployment of private petrol tanker drivers for the 4,000 CNG trucks it aims to use for the distribution of fuel nationwide.
This clash of interests between both warring parties has been captured in the signed MoU supervised by the DSS after a peace deal brokered by stakeholders that included Labour Minister, Dingyadi; Minister of Finance, Wale Edun; Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha; the Management of Dangote Group led by Alhaji Sayyu Dantata; Akporeha Williams and Olawale Afolabi, NUPENG President and the General Secretary respectively; Benson Upah of the Nigeria Labour Congress; and Nuhu Toro of the Trade Union Congress.
According to the three-page Memorandum of Understanding signed by the five parties, a two-week timeline was given for its implementation, beginning from September 9 and ending on September 22, 2025.
It was also agreed that Dangote Group would not set up any other union to rival NUPENG, PENGASSAN and other unions in the oil and gas sector.
The MoU partly read, “After exhaustive deliberations, the following resolutions were reached by both parties:
“That since workers’ unionisation is a right in line with the provisions of the extant laws, the management of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals agreed to the unionisation of employees of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals who are willing.
“That the process of unionisation shall commence immediately and be completed within two weeks (9th – 22nd September 2025) and it was agreed that the employer should not set up any other union.
“Arising from the strike notice, no worker or employee of Dangote refinery and Petrochemicals will be victimised. Parties will revert to the Honourable Minister of Labour a week after the conclusion of the engagement.
“Based on the MOU, NUPENG agreed to suspend the industrial action with immediate effect.”
In his intervention, a petroleum engineering expert, Prof Izielien Agbon urged both parties to respect the law for the sake of industrial harmony in the sector.
He said that the law recognises PENGASSAN, dedicated to safeguarding the welfare and interest of upper and middle level employees and NUPENG, dedicated to the interest of the lower group of workers, within the sector.
Reacting to the development, the management of Dangote Group said the refinery maintains a cordial and cooperative relationship with all recognised trade unions, including NUPENG.
“We have consistently supported their legitimate activities within our facility, including providing office space and enabling member engagement and dues collection without interference.
“Since the refinery became operational, our activities have contributed positively to union revenue and engagement. While we remain open to constructive dialogue, we will not tolerate economic sabotage, coercion or blackmail under the guise of labour activism,” the group said in a statement.
While acknowledging the intervention of the federal government, Dangote Refinery said it remains fully supportive of ongoing efforts to achieve a lasting resolution.
“We hold both the minister, Dr Mohammed Dingyadi (Katuka Sokoto) and Mrs. Nkiruka Onyejeocha, in the highest regard, and reject any suggestion that we have acted in a manner that would undermine their involvement. The minister granted Mallam Sayyu Dantata the permit to enable him to attend to his medication.”
Dangote Group drew attention to the fact that in just over a year since its commissioning, the Dangote Refinery has significantly transformed Nigeria by shifting the nation from a fuel importer to a net exporter of refined products, stabilising currency, slashing fuel costs, and stimulating industrial growth through new products and infrastructure development.
Dangote stresses that its operations have stabilised fuel availability and driven down costs, saying, “Diesel prices have dropped by over 30 per cent in the past year, and petrol prices in Nigeria are now reportedly lower than in oil-rich nations like Saudi Arabia and 40 per cent cheaper than neighbouring West African countries.”
The refinery is credited with creating over 570,000 jobs, boosting local economies, reducing household energy costs with increased LPG supply, and developing skilled labour. The widely celebrated stability of the Nigerian economy is largely attributed to the relief that local production of petroleum products by Dangote has brought to halt the massive outflow of foreign exchange through fuel importation.
Commenting on the development, the NUPENG President, Akporegha described the MoU as a victory for the entire workforce in the country and the masses at large, while thanking the media and other unions for solidarity.
He said, “Victory is ours finally. We have won. We are calling off the strike and resume work. Communique granting recognition for unionisation in Dangote group has been finally signed by all parties. Thank you all for the support and solidarity.”
For many Nigerians, the Dangote/NUPENG face-off is not just a battle between a union and a private company; it is a fight over the future of fuel distribution, efficiency, and the nation’s economic direction. At the time that Nigeria is battling with a huge population under multidimensional poverty and is branded the poverty capital of the world, disrupting the relief that local production of petroleum products by Dangote has provided, could be counterproductive.
