The Reconciliatory meeting organised by the Federal Ministry of Labour between Dangote Refinery and the National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers ended in a stalemate on Monday night.
The meeting, which had in attendance the national executives of NUPENG and officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, the Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Ogbugo Ukoha, as well as representatives of the Dangote Group and MRS Petroleum, was co-chaired by the Minister of Labour, Muhammed Dingyadi and the Minister of State for Labour, Nkeiru Onyejeocha.
Briefing the press on the outcome of the meeting, which lasted for close to seven hours, the spokesperson for the Nigeria Labour Congress, Benson Upah, said, “The representative of the Dangote Refinery walked out on the minister and organised labour.
“So there was no agreement? No, even when we bent backwards to accommodate his uncompromising behaviour, he still did what he had to do. So we are left with no option but to do the needful. The action continues.”
NUPENG 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.
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.
Sources at the meeting noted that following the intermediary role played by the labour ministry, resolutions of the Memorandum of Understanding were read for all parties to agree upon and sign.
However, disagreements with some of the resolutions by officials of the Dangote group led to further talks.
