NLC Backs NUPENG Against Dangote Refinery Over Workers’ Rights

NLC backs NUPENG in clash with Dangote Refinery over workers’ rights.
Congress accuses Dangote of anti-union practices, poor wages, and monopoly.
NLC warns of nationwide action if Dangote ignores labour laws.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has thrown its weight behind the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) in its dispute with Dangote Refinery over fuel distribution and workers’ rights.

In a statement on Saturday, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said Nigerian workers must not be sacrificed “on the altar of corporate greed,” stressing that solidarity with NUPENG is “not negotiable.”

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that the row, which threatens nationwide fuel distribution, centres on NUPENG’s directive to Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) to stop loading products from Dangote depots starting Monday, September 8. At issue is the refinery’s reported condition that drivers employed for its 10,000 compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks must not join any trade union.

The NLC accused the refinery of “dangerous anti-union practices, monopolistic agenda, and indecent industrial relations strategies.” Ajaero alleged that Dangote Group has consistently denied workers their constitutional right to freedom of association, forcing them into “company unions” designed to weaken collective bargaining.

He further claimed the company pays some of the lowest wages in the oil and gas sector, thrives on casualisation, and employs foreign workers at the expense of Nigerians. “This is not industrialisation; it is economic sabotage. It is class robbery,” Ajaero stated.

The Congress warned that forcing workers out of trade unions violates Section 40 of the Constitution, the Labour Act, and international labour conventions ratified by Nigeria. It urged the Federal Government to call Aliko Dangote and his associates to order, insisting that all Dangote businesses must comply with labour laws.

“The attack on NUPENG is an attack on all workers,” the statement added. “If Dangote continues on this reckless anti-union path, the NLC will move beyond words to action.”

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