Headline

Oil War: Dangote, NUPENG on Collison Course

Published

10 months ago

September 8, 2025

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

In spite of the intervention of the Federal government of Nigeria, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), has insisted that it will go on with its proposed strike for Monday.

The Union, on Sunday declared in a statement that much as the government has reached out to them on the need to avert the strike, that it would still embark on it to address the grievances of the union.

However, NUPENG President, Williams Akporeha, downplayed the action, saying that the strike would go ahead, pending the outcome of the meeting with the government Monday.

According to a Punch report, the NUPENG president, who admitted that the union was invited by the government to a meeting on the matter, insisted that the group would begin its strike.

Akporeha said the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company have reached out to the union over the planned strike. He insisted that the intervention of the government was not enough to stop the planned strike.

“The Federal Government and the NNPC are reaching out, but there is nothing concrete yet,” Akporeha said. Asked if the strike would still start on Monday, Akporeha replied, “Yes, though the Minister of Labour has called for a meeting. The meeting will be held tomorrow (Monday) in Abuja. But the strike starts tomorrow morning as planned.”

Recall that the union had on Friday announced that it would begin an industrial action on September 8, 2025, a development that could lead to fuel scarcity. Its decision stemmed from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s plan to import 4,000 Compressed Natural Gas-powered trucks for direct fuel distribution to retailers.

Although the scheme, earlier scheduled to begin on August 15, was delayed by logistics challenges in China, the refinery said it would kick off once a substantial number of the trucks arrived.

But in a statement jointly signed by Akporeha and the General Secretary, Afolabi Olawale, on Friday, NUPENG accused the Dangote refinery of anti-labour practices that threatened the livelihoods of members of its Petroleum Tanker Drivers branch.

The union lamented that the refinery’s owner, Aliko Dangote, had insisted that new drivers for the imported trucks would not be allowed to join any union. It described the decision as an affront to freedom of association guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution and a breach of international labour conventions to which Nigeria is a signatory.

NUPENG recalled that it had held several meetings, alongside the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, to persuade Dangote to reconsider. However, its appeals were allegedly ignored. The matter got to its climax when MRS oil firm, owned by Dangote’s cousin, Sayyu Dantata, reportedly began the recruitment of drivers for the CNG truck and compelled them to sign undertakings not to belong to any oil and gas union.

In a bid to avert the strike, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, announced on Sunday that he had summoned all parties to a conciliation meeting in Abuja. The intervention aims to defuse rising tensions over alleged anti-unionisation policies at the refinery.

In a statement signed by the ministry’s Head of Information and Public Relations, Patience Onuobia, Dingyadi appealed to NUPENG to suspend its planned shutdown of petroleum operations and called on the Nigeria Labour Congress to withdraw the “red alert” it issued in solidarity with oil workers.

“I have invited all the parties for a conciliation meeting tomorrow, Monday, September 8, 2025. Since I have intervened, I plead with NUPENG to rescind their decision to shut down the petroleum sector from tomorrow. I also appeal to the NLC to withdraw the red alert it issued to its affiliate unions to be on standby for a nationwide strike,” Dingyadi said.

The minister warned that industrial action in the petroleum sector would trigger widespread hardship across the country and inflict heavy losses on government revenue.

“The petroleum sector is very important to this country. It constitutes the core of the country’s economy. A strike in the petroleum sector, even for just a day, will have an adverse impact. It will not only lead to revenue losses running into billions of naira but also cause untold hardship for Nigerians,” he cautioned.

He also called on all stakeholders to allow peace to prevail, assuring that the government will broker a resolution acceptable to both labour and the private refinery. “The matter will be resolved amicably to the satisfaction of all the parties involved,” the minister stated.

In support of the petroleum unions, many organisations, groups and well meaning Nigerians have lent their voices though most of them go against any form of industrial action that could cripple the distribution of petroleum products, thereby worsening the lot of the common Nigerian.

In a statement released on Sunday, rights activiat and constitutional lawyer, Femi Falana, said the policy of the Dangote Group contravenes Section 40 of the 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 further stated that the policy violates the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) of the International Labour Organisation, as well as 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, all of which Nigeria has ratified.

“In view of the legal obligations imposed on the Federal Government of Nigeria by the Constitution, Trade Union Act, and international law to respect the fundamental rights of workers to freedom of association, the Registrar of Trade Unions should call Dangote Petroleum Refinery to order without delay.

“At the same time, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission should halt the monopolistic practices of the Dangote Group forthwith, as they violate the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act of 2018.

“Even though powerful trade unions exist in all capitalist countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, the Dangote Group appears determined to undermine trade unions in Nigeria because it has been allowed to operate outside the ambit of the law.

“However, the Dangote Group should be reminded that the struggle of Nigerian workers to unionise was fought and won under the British colonial regime. To that extent, we support the strike of the National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers against the policy of the Dangote Group, which seeks to erode the rights of Nigerian workers to unionise,” Falana stated.

In the same vein, marketers of petroleum products have agreed to shut down their filling stations should the planned strike by tanker drivers over their face-off with the Dangote Group, in solidarity with NUPENG.

According to The Punch, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said that filling stations would have to close down if the strike starts today (Monday). He described the strike as a looming danger.

That is our concern. The reality is that if our pump attendants, who are members of NUPENG, don’t come to work for any reason, what are we going to do in these stations?” he said.

He announced PETROAN’s three-day suspension of lifting and dispensing of petroleum products commencing from the early hours of Tuesday, September 9, 2025, saying this was PETROAN’s advocacy for healthy competition “as against any form of monopoly in the Nigerian petroleum downstream sector.

He emphasised that the action of NUPENG would be both lawful and peaceful, underscoring the association’s commitment to promoting workers’ rights and benefits through constructive engagement.

He called on President Bola Tinubu, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC, Bayo Ojulari, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and security agencies to intervene urgently in the proposed industrial actions to avert potential hardship and pain for citizens.

While making it clear that pump attendants at PETROAN filling stations are registered members of NUPENG, he said NUPENG’s strike would mean these attendants would be absent from duty. As a result, he instructed filling station owners not to discipline or sack any pump attendant who would be absent from duty until the end of the strike.

Gillis-Harry stated that “the aggressive business strategies of the Dangote refinery would have far-reaching consequences, including pushing private depot owners, modular refinery operators, marketers, retail owners, truck owners, and truck drivers out of business.” This, he warned, would trigger millions of unemployed persons nationwide, with devastating effects on the economy and the livelihoods of Nigerians.

Opposition to the Strike

But stakeholders, including the Petrol Tanker Drivers and the Direct Trucking Company Drivers Association, have kicked against NUPENG’s planned strike, a development that has however, been dismissed as a management-inspired group created to weaken the ranks of petroleum tanker drivers, by NUPENG.

Meanwhile, Dangote Refinery on its part, has maintained that its decision on the new CNG trucks and its drivers is a consequence of well thought out process, which will enable the free flow of petroleum products across the nation without fear of strikes and industrial actions.

While NUPENG sees Dangote’s action as taking their jobs from them and subjecting them to slavery, Dangote Refinery sees it as national assignment laced in patriotism.

So far, there are no basis for compromise as the two feuding are fast heading to a collision course, which will be detrimental to national economic and the already worsened way of life of the ordinary Nigerian.

Headline

Parties’ Deregistration: ADC, Not NDC, is the Target

Published

22 hours ago

June 29, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

As the 2027 presidential election draws closer, intrigues, manipulations and maneuvers have continued to be the order of the day as political parties engage in one gimmick or another to outdo and undo one another.

While some are playing politics of numbers and conviction, others are engaging tendencies that tend to question the status quo and established principles under which genuine democracy is formed. As a matter of fact, fingers have been pointed at the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal government as the brain behind all machinations that have attempted to derail multi-party democracy, and institute a one-party state, which is alien to the Nigerian democratic roots. This is as a result of the constant imbroglio that has consistently engulf almost all the major political parties in the country.

Fresh facts have however, emerged to prove that every act of frustration thrown at the opposition has been indirectly aimed at the main opposition party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

According to reliable sources, the recent deregistration of parties, especially the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), was actually targeted at the ADC.

Recall that the Federal High Court in Lokoja, Kogi State, on June, 26, set aside its earlier judgement directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the NDC as a political party. A ruling that put a question mark on the eligibility of the party presenting candidates in the forthcoming 2027 elections

The presiding judge, Isah Dashen, held that all relevant parties must be heard before any substantive decision can be made in the matter.

The court upheld the application filed by a certain organization, the Peace Movement Party (PMP), ruling that the party was a necessary party to the suit.

According to the judge, the earlier judgement was constitutionally defective as it was delivered without hearing from all interested parties.

He declared that such an omission rendered the entire process null and void.

Mr Dashen further ruled that the status quo be restored to what it was before the December 10, 2025 judgement, pending the determination of the substantive suit.

He also observed that certain material facts were suppressed in the earlier proceedings, which justified the decision to set aside the judgment.

Consequently, the court ordered that the substantive suit should begin afresh, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the PMP and the NDC as parties to the case.

According to NAN’s reports, the applicant’s lawyer, Chikezie Ekeocha, told journalists that the PMP approached the court after discovering that NDC’s registration was based on a logo it had previously submitted to INEC before the commencement of the suit.

According to Mr Ekeocha, the court agreed that the applicant’s rights had been affected and consequently vacated the earlier judgement.

“The court has ordered all parties to return to the position they occupied before the judgment of 10 December 2025, and directed the claimants to join all necessary parties to ensure the issues in dispute are effectually and completely determined,” he said.

He explained that the implication of the ruling is that every action taken by INEC in compliance with the now-vacated judgment stands reversed.

“The recognition of the NDC, the issuance of its certificate of registration, its inclusion in INEC’s records, and any appearance on ballot papers arising from that judgement must be withdrawn pending the final determination of the substantive suit,” Mr Ekeocha stated.

He, however, clarified that the substantive case remains before the court and has not been decided.

“The matter has not been concluded. The court merely set aside its previous judgment and directed that the party whose interests were affected be joined so that all sides can be heard before a fresh decision is reached.”

Mr Ekeocha also dismissed suggestions that the court merely ordered parties to maintain the status quo, insisting that the ruling specifically directed a restoration of the position that existed before the 10 December 2025 judgement.

The ruling effectively returns the dispute over the registration of the NDC to the Federal High Court for a fresh hearing, with all relevant parties expected to participate before a new determination is made.

It would also be recalled that a few weeks earlier, the Federal High Court in Abuja, had ordered the deregistration of five political parties including the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The others are Action People’s Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and Accord Party.

However, on June 16, the Court of Appeal in Abuja halted the enforcement of the judgement, ruling that it violated its earlier ruling staying proceedings before the Federal High Court.

While INEC awaits the release of the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment to deregister the NDC, the NDC has reacted, rejecting the judgment as travesty of justice.

Lending credence to the notion that the President Tinubu-led administration is basically targeting the establishment of the ADC as a party, and the candidature of its presidential flagbearer, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who is also the presidential candidate of the ADC, has stated categorically that there are plots to prevent the party from participating in the 2027 general election.

Atiku’s position is stated in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu on Monday, notifying the public that he had received credible information suggesting that political and legal manoeuvres were being deployed against the ADC, stressing that the persecution that has been thrown towards the NDC was a clear distraction as the main target is the ADC.

Atiku alleged that anti-democratic elements within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were working to ensure that the ADC is excluded from the ballot.

“We are fully aware of their plots. While they seek to sow confusion within the opposition, we know their real target is the ADC because it represents the most credible alternative,” he said.

Atiku called on Nigerians to reject any attempt to determine which opposition parties participate in the election.

“We therefore call on all Nigerians — not just ADC members and supporters — to rise in defense of democracy and reject any attempt by the ruling party to cherry-pick which opposition parties are permitted to participate in the next general election,” he said.

“Our message to the APC and the hooded men plotting in dark chambers is simple: you may conspire, but you will not succeed.

“If the APC is truly confident in its popularity, why is it so terrified of the ADC?”

He said he hoped the information available to him would not materialise but argued that recent political developments made such concerns difficult to dismiss.

“The pattern has become all too familiar. First, institutions that ought to be neutral are drawn into partisan contests,” he said.

“Then, frivolous litigations suddenly gain unusual momentum. Administrative powers are selectively deployed.

“Political pressure is mounted behind closed doors. Before long, democracy itself becomes the casualty.”

Atiku alleged that the ruling party has focused more on weakening the opposition than addressing the country’s economic and security challenges.

“The obsession with silencing the opposition has become so consuming that governance itself has taken a back seat,” he said.

“At a time when Nigerians are battling hunger, inflation, unemployment, insecurity, and collapsing purchasing power, those entrusted with public office appear preoccupied with political survival rather than national survival.”

Nigerians recall that ever since the official rejuvenation of the ADC in June/July of 2025, where the duo of Senator David Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola emerged as the party’s chairman and secretary respectively, the party has not known moments of peaceful coexistence as litigations from corners unknown have sprang up in a bid to destabilize the party and deprive it of the opportunity of featuring on the ballot paper come 2027.

ADC, as a child of circumstance emerged from the rumbles of the litigation-ridden former main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where two factions have consistently remelained at loggerheads over leadership. While the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who is working assiduously to ensure the reelection of Bola Tinubu, leads one faction, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, who became a defacto head, leads the other faction. In all, PDP appeared to have no direction, forcing many of its members to jump ship, thereby birthing the ADC, and to a large extent, the NDC, which is presenting Peter Obi as the presidential candidate, with former Kano governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, as his running mate.

Sources also informed The Boss that the hasty reading and passage of the Electoral Act 2026 by the Godswill Akpabio-led National Assembly, with many great areas left unattended to, were also part of the grand design to deprive the ADC the constitutional rights of presenting candidates for the 2027 elections.

But both the ADC and the NDC has vowed that they would follow every process to ensure that the crackdown on opposition parties by the Tinubu administration comes to an abrupt end.

But beyond the intrigues, Nigerians are gearing up to participate fully in the forthcoming election with cross sections of the population either hailing Tinubu for his policies or knocking him for the untold hardship in the land.

Headline

South Africa Nothing Without Africa – MTN Boss, Mcebisi Jonas

Published

3 days ago

June 27, 2026

Eric

The MTN Group Chairman, Mcebisi Jonas, has condemned the ongoing anti-foreigner sentiment in South Africa, describing it as a symptom of State failure being cynically exploited by politicians with no interest in genuine solutions.

The speech is seen as one of the most substantive interventions by a senior business figure into xenophobic crisis currently plaguing South Africa.

Delivered during the funeral service of Zimbabwean-born activist and public servant, Thokozani Damasane, Jonas’ words have sparked a wave of discussion across South African civil society.

“I was thinking, what is home to Damasane?” he said. “Because I understand, and I understood very early in life, that home is where humanity is. Home is about humanness. It is about the good of humanity and striving for the good of humanity.”

Thokozani Damasane was born and educated in Zimbabwe before relocating to South Africa during the post-apartheid transition period. Jonas described him as arriving “as an outcast” into a country still finding its post-liberation footing – and choosing, nonetheless, to commit himself entirely to its struggles and its people.

“He immersed himself deeply into the struggles, into the pains of South Africans, and he became one of us,” Jonas said.

“In Damasane’s strength, our strength as South Africa and South Africans is reflected. And in his weaknesses, our own weaknesses are reflected.”

Speaking further, Jonas blamed the state for the failure being witnessed, emphasising that if foreigners leave South Africa today, the country’s problems will still persist.

“Foreigners can leave tomorrow – inequality will be with us,” he told the congregation.

“Foreigners will leave tomorrow – unemployment will be with us. Foreigners will leave tomorrow – our police will remain corrupt. Foreigners will leave tomorrow – our politicians will still be concerned with one thing: being elected and re-elected.

“The problem is the failure of the state. The State doesn’t manage immigration. It doesn’t manage its borders. It doesn’t enforce
law enforcement. It doesn’t manage education. What are you expecting?”

Jonas argued that this failure created fertile ground for political manipulation. “When people feel the burn, they become vulnerable to politicians whose sole purpose is to be elected and re-elected. Some of them have no credibility whatsoever. But they lead marches and tell our people that the problem is not us – it is foreigners.”

Jonas recounted a conversation he had witnessed between Damasane and a young man who had challenged the right of foreigners to be in South Africa. Damasane’s response, Jonas said, had stayed with him ever since.

“Damasane said to this guy: Just wait fifteen or twenty years. You will also want to leave your country.”

Jonas told mourners those words now carry a weight Damasane may not have anticipated. “As I stand up today, I look at South Africa. The level of oppression and inequality, the level of exclusion of our people, the level of corruption, the betrayal of the dream of liberation – those words of Damasane ring very loud in my ears.”

South Africa is nothing without Africa

Jonas closed with a call for what he described as a return to “national consciousness” – one rooted in continental solidarity and economic interdependence rather than ethnic exclusion.

“We are a nation embedded in Africa,” he said. “And without Africa, our growth as a country – economically – our fortune is intertwined with the growth of Africa. South Africa is nothing without Africa. And Africa is nothing without South Africa.”

He also reframed the question of legacy and identity for Damasane’s children, who were present. “Sometimes this thing called meritocracy is measured in wealth. No. It is values, it is principles, it is integrity. And your father had all of that.”

“We cannot judge people by their origin,” he told mourners. “We cannot determine the legal status of people by their origin.”

Headline

NDC Rejects Court Ruling on Party’s Registration, Heads to Appeal Court

Published

3 days ago

June 27, 2026

Eric

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), on Friday, vowed to challenge the judgment nullifying its registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), insisting that it would exercise its constitutional right of appeal.

Reacting to the ruling on Thursday, the party’s spokesman, Osa Director, said the NDC was still awaiting the certified copy of the judgment before making a comprehensive statement on the court’s decision.

He, however, confirmed that the party had resolved to head to the appellate court.

“We are still waiting to obtain a copy of the judgment. After reading the comprehensive judgment, we will make a detailed statement,” he said.

The spokesman added: “For now, what is certain is that we will exercise our right of appeal.”

Insisting that the party would challenge the ruling, he said: “It is our constitutional right to appeal, and we intend to exercise that right.”

When asked specifically whether the NDC would appeal the judgment voiding its registration, the spokesman replied: “Yes, the party will appeal the case.”

The party’s reaction came shortly after a Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja, Kogi State, in a judgement that nullified its registration by INEC, a development that could have significant implications for the NDC’s participation in the country’s political process ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The NDC, however, maintained that it would refrain from making further comments on the substance of the judgment until it had studied the full text of the court’s decision.

The party’s planned appeal is expected to set the stage for a fresh legal battle over its status and continued existence as a registered political party.