Former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, has urged labour unions and stakeholders in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector to tread carefully in their ongoing dispute with the Dangote Refinery, warning against what he described as a “deliberate attempt to demonise” the $20 billion facility.
The lawmaker’s remarks come amid a face-off between the refinery’s management, the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), and the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN).
NUPENG recently shut down depots in protest, accusing the refinery of barring truck drivers from unionising in line with the Trade Union Act.
DAPPMAN, on its part, alleged that Dangote was undercutting local marketers by selling products to international traders at cheaper rates.
Though the Department of State Services (DSS) has waded into the dispute, the standoff continues to stir unease across the downstream sector.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, Ndume cautioned against what he termed “a poisonous media narrative” aimed at discrediting Dangote both at home and abroad.
READ ALSO: Ndume Urges Tinubu to Retain Service Chiefs, Calls for More Support
“I urge NUPENG, PENGASSAN, and all stakeholders to resolve issues through constructive dialogue rather than media sensationalism. Our priority should be protecting national development and the welfare of ordinary Nigerians, not escalating a needless power struggle,” the senator said.
Ndume, who represents Borno South, recalled that past administrations had granted licenses to several private operators to build refineries, but most never took off.
“Before Dangote’s intervention, licenses had been issued since 2002 and again in 2007, but many recipients did little more than benefit from crude allocations. Even under the Buhari administration, modular refinery licenses were issued, yet only a handful made any progress,” he noted.
The senator dismissed claims that Dangote was seeking to monopolise the petroleum sector, arguing that deregulation under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) has opened the space for competition.
“It is misleading to talk of monopoly in a deregulated industry. No player has been given undue advantage over others,” he stressed, calling on the Petroleum Ministry and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to step in and ensure smooth operations across the distribution chain.