The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has suspended its strike following an agreement with the management of Dangote Refinery to recognise workers’ rights to unionise.
The deal was reached at a closed-door meeting convened by the Department of State Services (DSS) and attended by the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun and representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
Acting NLC General Secretary, Benson Upah, confirmed the outcome, while the Ministry of Labour said it would issue a formal statement soon.
The resolution followed a conciliation meeting convened by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment on Monday, September 8, 2025, after NUPENG threatened to embark on strike over the company’s initial refusal to recognise workers’ union rights.
The meeting was attended by representatives of labour unions and the Dangote Group.
Memorandum of Understanding
According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed at the meeting, both parties agreed that unionisation is a right under extant labour laws, and employees of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals who wish to unionise would be allowed to do so.
The MoU further stated that the process of unionisation would begin immediately and be completed within two weeks.
“After exhaustive deliberations, the following resolutions were reached by both parties:
“That since workers’ unionisation is a right in line with the provisions of the extant laws, the management of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals agreed to the unionisation of employees of Dangote Refinery and the unionisation of employees of Petrochemicals, who are willing to unionise.
“That the process of unionisation shall commence immediately and be completed within two weeks (9th – 22nd September, 2025), and it was agreed that the employer will not set up any other union.
“Arising from the strike notice, no worker or employee of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical will be victimised,” the MoU read.
In line with the agreement, NUPENG suspended its strike with immediate effect, while parties are expected to report back to the Minister of Labour a week after the conclusion of the exercise.
The memorandum was signed on behalf of the management by Managing Director Dangote Group, Sayyu Dantata, O.K. Ukoha for Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Ojimba Jibrin, Dangote Group
It was also signed by representatives of labour unions: Benson Upah for Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), N.A. Toro for Trade Union Congress (TUC), NUPENG President Akporeha Williams, and General Secretary of NUPENG, Afolabi Olawale.
The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment was represented by Amos Falonipe, Director, Trade Union Services & Industrial Relations, signing on behalf of the Minister.
Union Dispute
The strike began with NUPENG (fuel tanker drivers’ union) on Monday, alleging that Dangote Refinery was hiring new drivers on the condition that they not join the union.
Dangote’s management denied this allegation, describing it as “cheap blackmail”.
The refinery, opened last year with a 650,000 barrels-per-day capacity, is the largest in Africa and was established to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on imported petrol.
While the refinery has driven down petrol prices and disrupted entrenched players in the oil sector, it has also raised monopoly concerns, given its dominance under Aliko Dangote.
The company was preparing to deploy thousands of compressed natural gas-powered trucks nationwide to distribute petrol, but this plan has faced delays, creating friction with the existing fleet of over 20,000 diesel-powered tanker operators.
During the strike, Dangote spokesman Anthony Chiejina maintained that “there is no fuel shortage, everything is going on”, stressing that talks were still in progress at the time.
NUPENG’s strike gained both domestic and international support, including from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), global union IndustriALL (Switzerland), and the International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW) network (Washington).
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