Fuel scarcity looms as tanker drivers threaten strike over row with Dangote

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) says tanker drivers will down their tools and start sourcing for alternative employment from Monday, September 8, 2025.

NUPENG made this known in protest against what the union described as Aliko Dangote’s anti-union agenda in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

This was stated in a joint statement signed by the NUPENG National President, Williams Akporeha, and the Secretary General, Aflabi Olawale, on Friday, September 5.

The union accused Dangote and his cousin, Sayyu Dantata, of plotting to create a monopoly that threatened jobs, unions, and the economic rights of Nigerians.

It stated: “NUPENG is seriously concerned and disturbed with the unconscionable business practices of Alhaji Sayyu Aliu Dantata and Alhaji Aliko Dangote who are scared of allowing unions to exist
in their business outfits.

“To us, amassing wealth on the basis of enslavement, depriving workers of a union and voice amounts to creating filthy wealth.

“NUPENG will not stand idly by while these billionaires seek to destroy the livelihoods of thousands of workers, including tanker drivers.”

The union also raised concerns over Dangote’s plan to import 10,000 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trucks for fuel distribution, which NUPENG claimed was a scheme to dominate the downstream sector.

According to NUPENG, new drivers recruited under the scheme are being forced to sign agreements preventing them from joining existing trade unions, a move the union has labeled unconstitutional.

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The union stated that this practice violated workers’ rights protected under Nigeria’s Constitution and international labour conventions ratified by the country since 1960.

The union said: “This is not philanthropy, it is economic sabotage. Dangote’s plan will enslave workers, crush competition, and ultimately raise fuel prices for ordinary Nigerians.

“Therefore, all the members of
the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch of NUPENG will from Monday, September 8, start looking for alternative employments and skills and sources of livelihoods.”

NUPENG urged the federal government through the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority to intervene, warning that failure to act would encourage “tyrannical, anti-union business practices.”

The union also called on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), and international labour organisations to prepare for mass protests and industrial action in solidarity.

It added: “Workers are no slaves, to resist unions is to resist collective bargaining.

“The working class will not be sacrificed on the altar of corporate greed.”

The Star