Nigeria will not face fuel supply disruption in spite of lingering strike action — Dangote insists

By Olakunle Oke

Dangote Petrochemicals refinery has given assurances that Nigeria will not face petrol shortages despite the nationwide strike by fuel tanker drivers.

The industrial action, which began on Monday, was declared by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and has since drawn backing from labour groups within Nigeria and internationally.

Refinery spokesman, Anthony Chiejina, told AFP on Tuesday that operations were running smoothly, as the company had deployed its own drivers to deliver fuel to retailers.

“There is no fuel shortage, everything is going on,” Chiejina stated, adding that discussions were ongoing between the union, the government, and the company.

Commissioned last year at a cost of $20 billion, the Dangote refinery has the capacity to process 650,000 barrels per day and has already reduced Nigeria’s dependence on imported petrol. Before its launch, the country relied almost entirely on imports, following the collapse of state-owned refineries.

The refinery has pushed pump prices lower and disrupted entrenched interests in the downstream oil sector, yet concerns persist about possible monopolistic control by its owner, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.

In August, the company announced plans to introduce thousands of compressed natural gas-powered trucks to distribute fuel nationwide. However, logistical delays have held up the rollout, unsettling a market traditionally dominated by more than 20,000 diesel-powered tankers.

The strike by tanker drivers is being staged in protest against alleged anti-union practices. NUPENG has accused Dangote of employing new drivers on the condition that they decline union membership.

“What Dangote has shown over time is that he’s not prepared to have workers that will have a say in his employment,” NUPENG president, Williams Akporeha, told Arise News on Tuesday.

The union has received solidarity from the Nigeria Labour Congress as well as global organisations, including Switzerland-based IndustriALL Global Union and the International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW) network in Washington.

Chiejina, however, rejected the accusations as baseless. “It’s not true… nobody has done that and nobody ever has,” he said, describing the claims as “cheap blackmail.”