FG reschedules meeting as Dangote, NUPENG face-off escalates
The Federal Government has rescheduled a tripartite meeting aimed at resolving the dispute between the Dangote Group and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) over alleged anti-union practices.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammadu Dingyadi, had earlier fixed the meeting for 3 p.m. on Monday but moved it forward to 10 a.m. in what sources described as a last-minute effort to avert a nationwide strike by oil workers.
However, by the new time, NUPENG leaders and other stakeholders were still in Lagos, preparing to travel to Abuja for the talks, causing further delays in the conciliation process.
On Friday, NUPENG accused Dangote Group of engaging in “crude and dangerous anti-union practices, monopolistic strategies, and indecent labour relations.” The union alleged that Dangote Refinery pays some of the lowest wages in the oil and gas sector and bars drivers from joining trade unions, a move it said contravenes the Nigerian Constitution, the Labour Act, and international conventions.
The union described the practices as “a dangerous road to fascism in industrial relations” and directed its members nationwide to begin an indefinite strike until their grievances were addressed.
In a show of solidarity, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) declared support for NUPENG, accusing Dangote of exploitative labour practices, monopolistic control of key industries, and the suppression of workers’ rights. NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said the group’s operations must comply with national and international labour standards.
The NLC further warned that if the Dangote Group failed to halt its alleged anti-worker practices, organised labour would mobilise nationwide resistance, describing the situation as “an attack on Nigerian workers and trade unionism.”
Meanwhile, a letter from the Ministry of Labour, dated September 6 and signed by the Director of Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations, Falonipe Amo, confirmed that all parties had been invited to the conciliation meeting in Abuja.
