Breaking: Dangote, NUPENG face-off: FG reschedules meeting

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammadu Dingyadi, has rescheduled the tripartite gathering summoned to resoluteness the quality betwixt the absorption of Dangote Group and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, implicit alleged anti-union practices.
The meeting, earlier fixed for 3 pm, was brought guardant to 10 americium successful what Vanguard gathered was a hopeless effort to avert the planned nationwide concern enactment by lipid workers.
Although the reasons for the clip alteration were not instantly disclosed, sources said it was aimed astatine halting the onslaught earlier it inflicted important harm connected the fragile economy.
However, by 10 am, NUPENG leaders and different stakeholders were inactive successful Lagos, trying to committee a formation to Abuja. An authoritative of the Ministry told Vanguard that the gathering could not commence until their arrival.
On Friday, NUPENG accused Aliko Dangote and his associates of pursuing “crude and unsafe anti-union practices, a monopolistic agenda, and indecent concern relations strategies.” The national alleged that Dangote Refinery pays immoderate of the lowest wages successful the lipid and state assemblage and treats unit “beneath acceptable standards.”
NUPENG besides faulted the company’s recruitment conditions, which barroom drivers from joining lipid and state unions, describing them arsenic a usurpation of Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, the Labour Act, and ILO Conventions 98 and 87.
“This marks a unsafe roadworthy to fascism successful concern relations, wherever workers are treated arsenic slaves without dependable oregon dignity,” the national warned.
A missive from the Ministry of Labour, dated September 6, 2025, signed by the Director of Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations, Falonipe Amo, connected behalf of the minister, invited stakeholders to the tripartite conciliation meeting.
Meanwhile, NUPENG leaders person directed each members nationwide to commence an indefinite onslaught pending the solution of their grievances with the Dangote Group.

NLC backs NUPENG

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, connected Saturday threw its afloat value down NUPENG successful its face-off with Dangote Group, directing workers nationwide to hole for solidarity action.
In a connection signed by its President, Joe Ajaero, the NLC urged the Federal Government to telephone Aliko Dangote and Sayyu Dantata to order, insisting that their operations indispensable comply with nationalist and planetary labour laws.
The NLC connection reads: “We person received and cautiously studied the petition and alarm raised by our affiliate union, the NUPENG, connected the anti-union practices, monopolistic agenda, and indecent concern relations strategies being pursued by Aliko Dangote and his associates.
“It indispensable beryllium realized that this is not the archetypal ailment we are receiving against Dangote Group. We person received respective from different unions with jurisdictions implicit the companies owned by the group. All of them verge connected the aforesaid acts of impunity and unfair labour practices.
“We authorities without equivocation that the revelations contained successful NUPENG’s connection correspond not conscionable an onslaught connected petroleum workers, but a full-blown declaration of warfare against the Nigerian moving class, commercialized unionism, and the rule of Decent Work.
“It exposes what has agelong been the questionable hallmark of the Dangote Group; a accordant grounds of union-busting, exploitative labour practices, and monopolistic seizure of markets to the detriment of some workers and the Nigerian people. We person it connected bully authorization that Dangote Refinery pays 1 of the lowest wages successful the lipid and state assemblage successful Nigeria contiguous and treats its unit members beneath acceptable standards.
“Dangote Group’s concern exemplary intelligibly enslaves and is not successful immoderate mode developmental. The Nigerian radical were promised that the Dangote Refinery and associated operations would make jobs, deepen industrialization, and beforehand nationalist self-sufficiency.
“Instead, what we are witnessing is the classical playbook of primitive capitalism arsenic the radical resorts to monopolistic capture. It is utilizing authorities backing to destruct contention and predominate full sectors (cement, sugar, flou...