The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has sounded the alarm over Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s recent scheme promising free nationwide delivery of fuel to service stations, describing it as a deceptive tactic intended to weaken organized labour, restrict competition, and ultimately tighten the refinery’s monopoly over Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
In a press release signed by Comrade (Prince) Williams Akporeha, NUPENG’s National Executive President, the union denounced the refinery as “an epitome of unconscionable capitalist network built on falsehood to hoodwink the gullible with the goal of crushing our union as well as crushing competition, all with the ultimate goal of increasing fuel price on the long run.”
Particularly, NUPENG expressed concern that the free-delivery offer was a “Greek Gift” aimed at sidelining other employers of petroleum truck drivers, leaving only those employed by Dangote who are compelled to join the Direct Trucking Company Drivers Association (DTCDA) in employment. “Nigerians should not be deceived by the offer of free nationwide delivery of petroleum products to dispensing stations. It is a Greek Gift to ensure that other employers of Petroleum Truck Drivers are unable to employ drivers so that only those employed by the company, who are forced to join the DTCDA … will remain in employment,” the statement read.
The union further accused Dangote of, since 2023, sponsoring the DTCDA to undermine its Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) Branch. NUPENG claimed that the DTCDA is “an ill-fated body populated by individuals who consistently lost elections in the PTD Branch of NUPENG but were later recruited by Dangote’s management to destabilise the union.”
NUPENG alleges that Dangote has directed its truck drivers to remove NUPENG stickers from their vehicles and replace them with DTCDA insignia, despite a Memorandum of Understanding signed on September 9, 2025, which formally acknowledges workers’ right to freedom of association.
In a startling allegation, the union named two individuals—Mr. Dayyabu Garga and Sylvanus Idanwekhai—claiming they have been publicly speaking in support of the refinery. The statement says:
“Mr. Dayyabu Garga, who has been speaking on BBC Hausa in support of Dangote Refinery, is serial number three on a criminal charge sheet, while Sylvanus Idanwekhai, who appeared on TVC for the same purpose, is serial number fourteen on CHARGE NO: CR/042/23 at the FCT High Court, Abuja, for violent crimes committed in attempting to assassinate elected and appointed leaders of PTD and NUPENG.”
NUPENG further claims that its General Secretary was “beaten into a coma” during one such alleged attack and only recovered after hospital treatment.
Beyond these disputes, the union maintains that Dangote Group has adopted an anti-labour stance more broadly, refusing to allow workers in its cement and sugar plants to unionize. “Aside from Petroleum Tanker Drivers, there are other operational and administrative workers of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company which the management has been preventing from joining unions. It is on record that Dangote Group does not allow unionization of workers in all its cement and sugar plants across Nigeria,” the statement asserts.
NUPENG has therefore called on Nigerians to reject what it terms “an attempt to enslave workers under a monopoly system,” warning against a work environment in which employees are stripped of the right to freedom of association and union membership.
The union’s statement concludes with a cautionary note:
“The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers is alerting the whole world that nothing untoward should happen to any of our leaders championing this struggle because we know how desperate and destructive capitalists with filthy wealth can be when cornered and exposed.”
