Amid growing tensions in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector, former Senate Leader, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, has urged caution in the dispute involving Dangote Refinery, oil workers, and petroleum marketers.
The clash has seen the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) accuse the refinery of preventing truck drivers from unionizing in line with the Trade Union Act, while the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) alleged that Dangote was selling products to international traders at cheaper rates than to Nigerian buyers.
Although the Department of State Services (DSS) has since intervened to broker peace between the refinery and oil workers, Ndume expressed concern over what he described as “a poisonous media narrative to paint Dangote in a bad light before Nigerians and the international community.” He recalled that previous administrations encouraged private operators to establish refineries, but most license holders failed to make meaningful investments.
Ndume stated, “Before Dangote took the risk to build his refinery, previous administrations had granted licenses to many Nigerians. What did they do with it? Some of them only cashed out on the incentives of crude oil allocation. If my memory serves me right, licenses were granted to 12 private operators as far back as 2002 to build refineries and reduce dependence on imported fuel. The second round of licensing was done in 2007 by the then Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) after revoking the first batch, and granted nine new licenses to private investors.”
He further said, “Those parading themselves as fuel importers today didn’t seize the initiative to come together to build refineries. Again, during the Muhammadu Buhari administration, licenses were granted to private investors to build modular refineries. How many of them actually scratched the surface, but they are ganging up to falsely accuse Dangote of monopolising the market.”
The former Chief Whip of the 10th Senate decried what he termed unnecessary hostility towards the refinery, insisting that the Federal Government, in line with the Petroleum Industry Act, had ensured deregulation of the sector and encouraged healthy competition. “It is wrong to talk about monopoly in a deregulated industry. There are no deliberate bottlenecks against anyone, and no player has been accorded special concessions to the detriment of others,” he said.
Ndume called on the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to take a firm interest in the feud to prevent actions that could disrupt petroleum products distribution. He also appealed to unions and stakeholders to prioritize dialogue over conflict. “I urge NUPENG, PENGASSAN, and all concerned stakeholders to engage in constructive dialogue with Dangote rather than inciting division and undue sensationalism in the media. Our common goal should be to balance labour rights with the imperatives of national development and not put ordinary citizens at the receiving end of a needless power tussle,” he added.
