NUPENG vs Dangote: Fuel marketers beg Tinubu to avert Monday strike
Story By Jameel Lawan Yakasai
The Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria have asked President Bola Tinubu and other stakeholders to intervene in the dispute between the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers and the Dangote Refinery.
But the Nigeria Labour Congress, while also calling for urgent intervention in the stand-off, accused the Dangote refinery of anti-labour practices.
This comes after NUPENG said on Friday that it would begin industrial action on Monday, September 8.
The dispute revolves around Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s plan to import 4,000 compressed natural gas-powered trucks for direct fuel distribution to retailers.
READ ALSO: Fuel scarcity imminent as NUPENG, Dangote face-off festers
Although the scheme, scheduled to begin on August 15, was delayed by logistics challenges in China, the refinery said it would kick off once a substantial number of the trucks arrived.
But in a statement jointly signed by its President, Williams Akporeha, and General Secretary, Afolabi Olawale, on Friday, NUPENG accused the Dangote Refinery of anti-labour practices that threatened the livelihoods of its Petroleum and Tanker Drivers branch members.
The union lamented that the refinery’s owner, Aliko Dangote, had insisted that new drivers for the imported trucks would not be allowed to join any union.
It described the decision as an affront on freedom of association guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution, and a breach of international labour conventions to which Nigeria is a signatory.
READ ALSO: Marketers raise concerns over Dangote Refinery’s direct supply plan
NUPENG recalled that it had held several meetings, alongside the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, to persuade Dangote to reconsider However, its appeals were allegedly ignored.
Matters escalated last Friday when MRS, owned by Dangote’s cousin, Sayyu Aliu Dantata, reportedly began recruiting drivers for the CNG trucks, compelling them to sign undertakings not to belong to any oil and gas union the union said it could not stand by while jobs were being eroded.
NUPENG said its members would stop fuel loading nationwide from Monday, September 8, if the situation remained unresolved.
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