Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has urged the Federal Government to intervene in what he described as Dangote Refinery owner Aliko Dangote’s attempt to compel newly recruited drivers to sign contracts forbidding them from joining recognised unions in the oil and gas sector.
On Friday, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) announced that its members would withdraw their services and begin seeking alternative employment from 8 September. The union said its decision directly responds to Dangote Refinery’s alleged efforts to block compressed natural gas (CNG) tanker drivers from affiliating with labour unions.
Although the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) and the Direct Trucking Company Drivers Association (DTCDA) have distanced themselves from the strike, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) declared plans to suspend fuel lifting and dispensing for three days from 9 September in solidarity with NUPENG.
Despite the opposition, NUPENG reaffirmed on Sunday that it would go ahead with the strike.
Reacting in a statement, Falana argued that the Dangote Group’s policy contravenes Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, Section 12 of the Trade Union Act, and Article 10 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act.
He added that the policy breaches international conventions Nigeria has ratified, including the International Labour Organisation’s Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention (1948, No. 87), the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention (1949, No. 98), the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Falana stated:
“The National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers has directed its members across the oil and gas industry to embark on an indefinite strike from Monday, 9 September 2025. The strike protests the plan of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to force newly recruited drivers to sign an undertaking preventing them from joining any existing union in the oil and gas industry.
“This policy contravenes the Constitution, the Trade Union Act, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. It also breaches provisions of international conventions and declarations ratified by Nigeria.
“Given the legal obligations imposed on the Federal Government by both domestic and international law, the Registrar of Trade Unions should immediately call the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to order. Likewise, the Federal Competition and Consumer Commission must halt the monopolistic practices of the Dangote Group, which violate the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act of 2018.
“Even though powerful trade unions operate freely in capitalist countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States, the Dangote Group seeks to erase trade unions in Nigeria because it has been allowed to act above the law.
“The group must be reminded that Nigerian workers fought and won the right to unionise under colonial rule. For that reason, we support NUPENG’s strike against the Dangote Group’s policy aimed at undermining workers’ rights.”