Dangote Refinery has assured Nigerians that fuel supply will remain stable despite the strike by tanker drivers, saying operations are continuing smoothly while negotiations with unions and government representatives are underway.
The strike, which started on Monday and has gained backing from unions within Nigeria and internationally, coincides with the refinery’s move to recruit its own drivers to distribute petrol to filling stations.
“There is no fuel shortage, everything is going on,” a refinery spokesman, Anthony Chiejina, revealed to media, adding that talks were continuing between the union, the government, and the company.
Before last year’s opening of the Dangote refinery, with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, Nigeria had to import almost all its petrol despite being a major oil producer.
Critics pointed to years of neglect and mismanagement of government-owned refineries.
The Dangote refinery has driven down prices of petrol for consumers while also shaking up long-entrenched players in Nigeria’s oil sector, marred by decades of corruption.
But it has also sparked monopoly fears as it becomes a powerful player backed by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.
In August, Dangote Refinery had announced plans to roll out thousands of trucks powered by compressed natural gas to transport petrol across the country. However, the initiative has faced delays due to logistical challenges.
The move has unsettled Nigeria’s fuel distribution sector, which has long relied on more than 20,000 diesel-powered tankers that have dominated the market for decades.
Amid this backdrop, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers began an industrial action on Monday, accusing Dangote of employing new drivers under conditions that barred them from joining the union—an allegation the refinery has firmly denied.
“What Dangote has shown over time is that he’s not prepared to have workers that will have a say in his employment,” union president Williams Akporeha told Nigerian broadcaster Arise News on Tuesday.
NUPENG has received backing from several groups, including the Nigeria Labour Congress at home and international organisations such as IndustriALL, a global union based in Switzerland, and the International Lawyers Assisting Workers network in Washington.
In response, Dangote Refinery spokesman Anthony Chiejina rejected allegations that newly hired drivers were barred from union membership, describing the accusation as “cheap blackmail” and insisting that no such practice had ever taken place.
