The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has sharply criticised Senator Adams Oshiomhole, calling him a “betrayer of labour ideals” after his recent comments condemning the strike action by oil and gas unions against the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company.
Oshiomhole, who represents Edo North Senatorial District, had on national television described the joint strike by PENGASSAN and NUPENG as “a reprehensible assault on the fundamental rights of Nigerian workers” and “a gross distortion of labour laws.”
In a swift response, NUPENG President, Comrade Williams Akporeha, and General Secretary, Comrade Afolabi Olawale, issued a joint statement expressing “deep disappointment” that a former labour icon could now act as “a vocal advocate for corporate oppression.”
“We witness with utter dismay a former labour leader now transformed into a campaigner for the same corporate exploitation he once opposed,” the union said.
According to NUPENG, Oshiomhole’s remarks rationalising the alleged victimisation of 800 sacked workers for unionising at the Dangote Refinery amount to “a flagrant misrepresentation of Nigerian labour laws and International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions.”
The statement described his position as “nauseating” and “a betrayal of the principles that once defined Nigeria’s labour movement.”
“Apostate Intoxicated by Power”
NUPENG accused Oshiomhole of abandoning the ideals that brought him national prominence, describing him as “an apostate intoxicated by power and dollarised into betraying the cause of downtrodden workers.”
“It is ironic,” the union said, “that the same man once seen as the voice of Nigerian workers now speaks for unconscionable capitalists who oppose unionisation.”
Citing Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, the union reaffirmed that every Nigerian has the right to freedom of association. It added that Section 9(6) of the Labour Act forbids any agreement that excludes workers from joining unions, while ILO Conventions 87 and 98, both ratified by Nigeria, protect workers’ rights to form and join unions freely.
NUPENG dismissed Oshiomhole’s call for a “moratorium on unionisation” as “absurd, archaic, and anti-democratic.” The union challenged him to “show the section of Nigerian law that supports such a backward idea.”
Defending PENGASSAN’s Strike
Responding to Oshiomhole’s criticism of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), NUPENG insisted that the union’s strike was “a protected legal action under Section 31 of the Trade Unions Act.”
“The principle that an injury to one is an injury to all is the foundation of trade unionism globally,” it stated. “To now call that principle inconvenient shows how far Oshiomhole has drifted from his roots.”
The union expressed shock that a former member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Governing Council could “display such ignorance of the basic tenets of trade unionism.”
It recalled former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s remark describing Oshiomhole as “a comrade in the morning and a politician by night,” adding that “the statement now rings truer than ever.”
Persona Non Grata Declaration
In a dramatic conclusion, NUPENG declared Oshiomhole persona non grata among oil and gas workers across Nigeria.
“Henceforth, we will not participate in or lend legitimacy to any event featuring Senator Oshiomhole,” the statement said.
The union urged the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), and civil society organisations to “take note of this betrayal and stand in defence of workers’ rights.”
