The nationwide strike by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) will continue on Tuesday after late-night negotiations between the Federal Government, organised labour, and the Dangote Group broke down in Abuja on Monday.
The talks collapsed after Sayyu Dantata, representing the Dangote Group, reportedly walked out on Labour Minister Muhammad Dingyadi and the labour delegation during heated discussions over the unionisation of Dangote Refinery workers.
According to sources at the meeting, the Dangote team insisted that union membership should remain optional, while the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and NUPENG maintained that employees must be free to unionise without restrictions.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Labour Minister Dingyadi confirmed that discussions ended in a stalemate.
“There are issues we have not been able to reach a final agreement on. Since it was getting late and some of the parties were travelling to Lagos, we had to call off the meeting until tomorrow. But I am confident that by tomorrow, we should be able to resolve these issues,” he said.
However, the NLC accused the Dangote representative of deliberately frustrating the process.
Benson Upah, acting secretary of the NLC, said:
“Even when we bent backwards to accommodate his uncompromising behaviour, he still walked out. We are left with no option but to do the needful. The strike action continues.”
NUPENG President Williams Akporeha also defended the strike, accusing Dangote of attempting to suppress workers’ rights.
“We cannot stand by and see an investor monopolise not just the system but even the workers. Nigerians have wished him well, but we will not allow him to enslave them,” he stated.
Earlier, the NLC had issued a “Red Alert” to the Federal Government and the Dangote Group, accusing the company of “crude and dangerous anti-union practices, monopolistic agenda, and indecent industrial relations strategies.” The labour body argued that such practices violate Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, the Labour Act, and International Labour Organisation conventions ratified by Nigeria.
The NLC demanded the immediate unionisation of Dangote Refinery and all subsidiaries within the group, warning of nationwide solidarity actions if the company fails to comply.
“If Dangote continues on this reckless anti-union path, we will confront this tyranny head-on until victory is secured for Nigerian workers,” the NLC declared.
It further called on the Federal Government to intervene, warning regulatory agencies not to “look the other way while a few individuals privatise the nation’s energy future and enslave its workforce.”
