The Federal Government has intervened in the brewing industrial dispute between the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and the Dangote Refinery, urging the union to shelve its planned nationwide strike slated for Monday, September 8.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, announced on Sunday that he has summoned all parties to a conciliation meeting in Abuja.
The intervention aims to defuse rising tensions over alleged anti-unionization policies at the refinery.
In a statement signed by the ministry’s Head of Information and Public Relations, Patience Onuobia, Dingyadi appealed to NUPENG to suspend its planned shutdown of petroleum operations and called on the Nigeria Labour Congress to withdraw the “red alert” it issued in solidarity with oil workers.
“I have invited all the parties for a conciliation meeting tomorrow, Monday, September 8, 2025. Since I have intervened, I plead with NUPENG to rescind their decision to shut down the petroleum sector from tomorrow.
“I also appeal to the NLC to withdraw the red alert it issued to its affiliate unions to be on standby for a nationwide strike,” Dingyadi said.
The minister warned that industrial action in the petroleum sector would trigger widespread hardship across the country and inflict heavy losses on government revenue.
“The petroleum sector is very important to this country. It constitutes the core of the country’s economy. A strike in the petroleum sector, even for just a day, will have an adverse impact. It will not only lead to revenue losses running into billions of naira but also cause untold hardship for Nigerians,” he cautioned.
He also called on all stakeholders to allow peace to prevail, assuring that government will broker a resolution acceptable to both labour and the private refinery.
“The matter will be resolved amicably to the satisfaction of all the parties involved,” the Minister stated.
PUNCH Online had reported earlier that NUPENG said on Friday that it would begin industrial action on Monday, September 8.
The dispute stemmed from Dangote’s plan to import 4,000 compressed natural gas-powered trucks for direct fuel distribution to retailers starting August 15.
While the plan was delayed by logistics challenges in China, NUPENG accused the 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.
