Suspended Strike: NUPENG Accuses Dangote of Breaching Agreement, Threatens to Resume Action …Says management frustrating resolutions reached with FG

Barely 48 hours after suspending its strike, the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has accused the management of Dangote Refinery of reneging on agreements reached with the federal government.

In a joint statement issued on Thursday in Abuja, Comrades Williams Akporeha and Afolabi Olawale, President and General Secretary of NUPENG, alleged that the resolutions brokered during a closed-door meeting convened by the State Security Service (SSS) were being frustrated.

The meeting, attended by the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and officials of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals, had resolved that workers at the company be allowed to unionise.

The agreement stated in part:

“That since workers’ unionisation is a right under the law, the management of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals agreed to allow employees of both the Refinery and Petrochemicals to unionise if they so wish.

That the unionisation process shall commence immediately and be concluded between September 9 and 22, 2025, with the employer refraining from creating any parallel unions.”

However, NUPENG alleged that Alhaji Sayyu Aliu Dantata, who represented Dangote Refinery at the peace meeting, had already breached the agreement by ordering long-standing NUPENG-PTD truck drivers to remove union stickers from Dangote trucks.

According to the union, Dantata allegedly “flew over them several times with his helicopter and then called the Navy of the Federal Republic to come over ostensibly to crush the Union officials.”

NUPENG stressed that while it had no intention of disrupting petroleum distribution to Nigerians, it expected the federal government to call Dangote’s management to order.

The statement, titled “Alert to the Nation: Dangote Empire Negates Resolutions Reached”, further accused Dantata of instructing his drivers to forcefully enter the refinery to load products in violation of union loading rules.

The union warned:

> “We call on everyone to let Alhaji Sayyu Aliu Dantata know that he is not bigger than the Federal Republic of Nigeria. His arrogant attitude towards official institutions and blatant disregard for the law must not be tolerated.
Security agents should not allow themselves to be used with impunity against the people and the laws of this country.”

NUPENG placed all its members on red alert for a possible resumption of nationwide industrial action and called on the NLC, TUC, civil society, and global labour movements to stand in solidarity.

The statement concluded with a reassurance:

> “We assure Nigerians and the federal government that NUPENG remains a patriotic, responsible, and responsive organisation. Our solidarity remains constant, for the Union makes us strong.”