Nigeria’s oil sector faces fresh tension as a dispute between the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) escalated on Monday after a federal government-mediated peace meeting ended in a deadlock.
The conciliatory meeting, held at the Ministry of Labour in Abuja, lasted nearly seven hours but collapsed when Dangote Group officials walked out, leaving organised labour fuming.
“The representative of the Dangote refinery walked out on the minister and organised labour,” Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) spokesperson Benson Upah told journalists after the meeting. “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.”
The meeting was co-chaired by Labour Minister Muhammad Dingyadi and Minister of State Nkeiru Onyejeocha, and attended by senior NUPENG executives, NLC and TUC representatives, officials of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and delegates from MRS Petroleum.
A draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was read for review, but disagreements over key resolutions stalled progress, leading to the abrupt walkout.
NUPENG had earlier announced a nationwide strike starting September 8, warning that the action could trigger fuel scarcity. The union accuses Dangote Refinery of anti-labour practices, including alleged plans to bar drivers recruited for its new Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) truck fleet from joining unions.
The refinery is deploying 4,000 CNG-powered trucks for direct fuel distribution, a move it says will ensure efficiency and reduce costs. However, NUPENG says the plan threatens thousands of jobs and violates constitutional rights to freedom of association.
The union also alleges that MRS Petroleum, owned by Dangote’s cousin Sayyu Dantata, has been recruiting drivers under anti-union conditions.
Analysts describe the dispute as an “economic war” that favours Dangote.
“He who has scale always wins in an economic war,” said financial expert Kalu Aja (@FinPlanKaluAja1). “You are importing PMS but attempting to fight a man who has a local refinery? He has played the Pac-Man strategy and gone after your cash cows, the logistic trucks. You have no refineries to fight him, checkmate.”
The $19 billion Dangote Refinery, with a 650,000-barrel-per-day capacity, is key to Nigeria’s efforts to end fuel imports and stabilise prices. The federal government, which brokered Monday’s meeting, is keen to avoid disruptions that could worsen inflation and fuel shortages.
With negotiations stalled and NUPENG insisting on its strike threat, the standoff could reshape fuel distribution in Nigeria and test the government’s ability to maintain industrial peace.
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