Despite a truce reached barely 48 hours earlier that led to suspending its strike action, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has accused the management of the Dangote Refinery of backtracking on agreed resolutions.
It says it will resume the strike over the fresh breach of agreements by the management of the refinery, opened last year with a 650,000 barrels-per-day capacity, as the largest in Africa.
NUPENG (fuel tanker drivers’ union) had on Monday embarked on a strike because Dangote Refinery gave new drivers the condition that they not join the union.
A government-brokered truce was reached when Dangote Refinery bowed to unconditional unionisation.
However, in a statement jointly signed by NUPENG President and General Secretary, Williams Akporeha and Afolabi Olawale, the union warned on Thursday that it might return to the warpath as Dangote Refinery had breached the agreement.
“We are by this statement placing all our members on red alert for the resumption of the suspended nationwide industrial action and calling on the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, all regional and global working people, and civil society organisations to rise in support and solidarity against this threat of the capitalist world,” NUPENG stated.
The union claimed that at a meeting convened by the Department of State Services and attended by the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the management of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals agreed to the unionisation of its employees.
It further stated that, notwithstanding the resolution reached and signed at the office of the DSS with three on the right of unionisation of the workers, truck drivers who were NUPENG-PTD members for several years were ordered to remove the union’s stickers from their trucks yesterday.
The statement partly read, “We call on the Federal Government not to allow the Navy and other security agents who are paid by the resources of this country to be used with impunity against the laws and people of this country.
“Security agents should not allow an individual to ride roughshod with impunity, even while not observing terms of agreement reached in meetings in which security agents facilitated, along with ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The union had suspended its strike on Tuesday following an agreement with the management of Dangote Refinery to recognise workers’ rights to unionise.
The deal was reached at a closed-door meeting convened by the Department of State Services (DSS) and attended by the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
Acting General Secretary of the NLC, Benson Upah, confirmed the outcome, while the Ministry of Labour said it would issue a formal statement soon.
The resolution followed a conciliation meeting convened by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment on Monday, September 8, 2025, after NUPENG threatened to embark on strike over the company’s initial refusal to recognise workers’ union rights.
According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed at the meeting, both parties agreed that unionisation is a right under extant labour laws, and employees of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals who wish to unionise would be allowed to do so.
The MoU further stated that the process of unionisation would begin immediately and be completed within two weeks.
In line with the agreement, NUPENG suspended its strike with immediate effect, while parties are expected to report back to the Minister of Labour a week after the conclusion of the exercise.
