The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has declared an industrial dispute with the Dangote Refinery over the unionisation of newly recruited petroleum tanker drivers being employed by the firm belonging to Africa’s richest man.
In a tone declaring the commencement of a strike, NUPENG has served notice that “the members of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch of NUPENG will, from Monday, September 8, 2025, start looking for alternative employment/skills and sources of livelihoods.”
Stoking the trouble is a disagreement between the two parties over Dangote Refinery’s plan to roll out 10,000 CNG-powered trucks for direct products distribution, and its plan to prevent their drivers to join the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Association (PTD), an affiliate of NUPENG.
NUPENG kicked about the zero-unionisation of drivers planned by the refinery in a statement by William Akporeha and Afolabi Olawale, President and General Secretary of NUPENG, respectively.
Their statement said that disallowing the drivers being recruited from joining PTD amounted to a violation of the employees’ constitutional rights.
As far as the union is concerned, the Dangote Refinery plan amounted to “scheming to monopolise distribution, crush competition, and enslave the sector and raise prices, which would ultimately result in an attack on the living standards of the masses of ordinary Nigerians.”
It alleged that a meeting involving NUPENG, the National Association of Road Transport Owners (employers’ association of the petroleum tanker drivers), and Sayyu Aliu Dantata, owner of MRS Energy, on June 23, 2025, on the instructions of Aliko Dangote, chairman of the Dangote Group, failed to find a common ground.
“By this statement, we call on the Federal Government of Nigeria and its agencies, including well-meaning segments of the Nigerian society, to call the two businessmen to order. They should be told to obey the laws of Nigeria. If they persist, NUPENG is set and ready to mobilise its forces to fight within the framework of the law.
“Meanwhile, since they have resolved to replace all petroleum tanker drivers in Nigeria and there is no one or institution that can stop them, the members of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch of NUPENG will, from Monday, September 8, 2025, start looking for alternative employment/skills and sources of livelihoods. We plead with the general public to bear any inconveniences our struggle may cause; it is a struggle that must be waged.”
Tanker drivers have been put on alert to withdraw their services if the matter is not resolved amicably; a development bound to break the long-uninterrupted petroleum supply across the country.
NUPENG said: “We call on the Nigerian Midstream & Downstream Petroleum Authority to invoke its powers under Section 32(u) & (aa) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). Under those two provisions, the Authority is empowered to promote competition and private sector participation in the midstream and downstream petroleum operations.
“The Authority has the responsibility to identify, investigate and prevent abuse of dominant positions and restrictive business practices with regard to midstream and downstream petroleum operations.”
