Africa’s richest man and President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has accused the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) of imposing charges of up to ₦50,000 on every truck loading fuel at his refinery, warning that such fees are inflating pump prices and hurting consumers.
Speaking to journalists in Lagos, Dangote described the charges as “unsustainable rent-seeking practices” that undermine efficiency in the downstream sector.
“I am saying that there are several charges here, where if a truck is going to load, NUPENG has been collecting about ₦50,000 or ₦48,000 on each truck. By the time everybody collects their own, you are talking about ₦80,000 to ₦84,000. So, who pays for that cost? The consumer actually pays,” he declared.
Dangote said his company had been forced to learn from past experiences when transporters allegedly held the group “by the neck” as fuel importers, prompting him to set up an in-house fleet managed by his brother.
“Now that we have launched our own CNG trucks, we will not allow any group to hold us hostage. If there is no evacuation, there is nothing we can do,” he added.
He further stressed that no worker should be compelled to join a union, pointing out that the constitution guarantees freedom of association.
“If anybody wants to join the union, even our own workers, we say, ‘Fine, go and join.’ But it must be voluntary. Even religion is voluntary—you cannot force anyone to convert,” Dangote said.
When contacted, NUPENG President, Williams Akporeha, neither confirmed nor denied the allegations. “₦50k now? No more ₦1 per litre?” he quipped in response. In an earlier reaction to viral claims of a ₦1 per litre charge, Akporeha had insisted: “One can’t stop people from having their opinion. Ask who alleges to provide proof.”
The row follows NUPENG’s recent blockade of the Dangote refinery over a unionisation dispute, which was resolved only after Federal Government intervention and a memorandum of understanding. An Abuja industrial court has since barred the union from further blockades, though tensions remain.
Energy experts have expressed concern over the alleged levies. Professor Dayo Ayoade, an energy law specialist, questioned the legality of the practice.
“The job of a union is to assist its members and protect their jobs, but it doesn’t have a right to tax or collect fees for fuel loading. Is NUPENG now a tax-collecting agency? That is the question,” he said.
Ayoade added that Dangote’s decision to operate 4,000 Compressed Natural Gas-powered trucks could help prevent a single union from “holding the entire country to ransom.”
Analysts argue that such hidden costs, if verified, act as an informal tax on energy consumers, further weakening government efforts to stabilise prices and promote CNG adoption.
Experts have urged the Federal Government to investigate the claims, introduce clear regulations for truck-loading charges, and balance the protection of workers’ rights with shielding consumers from arbitrary levies.
