The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, has suspended its nationwide strike, after reaching an agreement with the management of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited on workers’ unionisation.
NUPENG had on Monday declared a nationwide industrial action to protest refusal of the Dangote Group to allow its workers to join the union.
The strike had raised fears of imminent fuel scarcity across the country.
The breakthrough came during a two-day high-level conciliation meeting convened by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, in Abuja, with the intervention of the Department of State Services, DSS.
The meeting which started on Monday, but could not be resolved had in attendance on Tuesday, the ministers of labour and finance, representatives of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, while the Dangote management team was led by Sayyu Dantata, Group Managing Director.
The meeting which was almost concluded on Monday finally ended in deadlock over the wordings of the communique which necessitated its continuation on Tuesday.
However on Tuesday, the Dangote management accepted that unionisation as a fundamental right of its employees and pledged to implement it without interference, which finally sealed Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, .
The Managing Director of Dangote Group Sayyu Dantata, who led the team was quoted as saying, after signing the agreement, “The management is not averse to unionisation. We will abide by the provisions of the law and ensure employees who wish to join unions are free to do so without interference,”
The MoU further stipulated that “unionisation of employees must be completed between September 9 and 22, 2025, no employer-sponsored or alternative unions will be created, no worker will be victimised for participating in the strike or supporting unionisation and both parties will report back to the minister of labour a week after the process concludes.”
On why the meeting was moved to the DSS office, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, said the choice was to have a different environment, adding that it afforded the opportunity for the minister of finance to be in attendance.
Reacting to the developemnt,the President of NUPENG, Williams Akporeha, said all contentious issues had been resolved.
“We signed agreement and members have agreed to unionisation of workers in Dangote Petrochemical refinery.”
He said the strike was to be called off immediately, adding that tankers had started loading petroleum products.
On the alleged uncompromising behaviour exhibited by the Dangote refinery representative, the NUPENG President said the Dangote team denied any such thing.
He said: “They said they didn’t walk out. The man (Dangote refinery representative) said he was hungry and has ulcer, so he had to go and eat, that there was nothing like he walked out.”
Highlighting some of the contentious clauses Akporeha said: ”They brought in this DTCDA (Direct Trucking Company Drivers Association) which they don’t have right to do and we have also said that going forward, they shouldn’t force any union on the workers, the management should not create any union for the workers.”
The DTCDA is a new union formed by the management of Dangote refinery for its workers, but the NUPENG boss said it had been agreed that it should be disbanded, adding that the Ministry of Labour had already declared it an illegal organisation.
Acting General Secretary of NLC, Benson Upah, who led the NLC team, said: “This agreement reaffirms that unionisation is not a privilege but a fundamental right. Nigerian workers at the Dangote Refinery will no longer be treated as outsiders in their own industry.”
The MoU was signed by Sayyu Dantata and Otunba Jibrin, for the management, while Comrade Benson Upah for NLC, Prince Williams Akporeha and Afolabi Olawale signed for NUPENG.
Similarly, Nuhu Toro appended the document for TUC; O.K. Ukoha for NMDPRA, and Falonipe Amos for Ministry of Labour and Employment.
It should be recalled that before yesterday’s agreement was brokered, NUPENG had shut depots across the country, causing long queues and rising cost of fuel in some parts of the country.
