Ndume to NUPENG, Stakeholders: End Attacks on Dangote, Embrace Dialogue

On Wednesday, former Senate Leader Ali Ndume warned labor unions and oil industry stakeholders about what he called an increasing effort to demonise Dangote Refinery.

The confrontation between the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers and the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria and the Dangote Refinery management is what prompted his participation.

Recent industrial action by NUPENG involved closing depots because the refinery was allegedly refusing to permit truck drivers to join the union in accordance with the Trade Union Act.

The refinery was charged by DAPPMAN of suppressing competition by allegedly offering items to foreign buyers at lower prices than Nigerian sellers.
Tensions in the downstream industry have continued despite the Department of State Services’ subsequent intervention to settle the conflict with the workers’ union.

On Wednesday, Ndume released a statement in Abuja warning against what he described as “a poisonous media narrative to paint Dangote in a bad light in the eyes of Nigerians and the international community.”

I implore NUPENG, PENGASSAN, and all other interested parties to have a positive conversation with Dangote instead of stirring up conflict and exaggerating the situation in the media.

“We should all strive to strike a balance between labor rights and the needs of national development, and not subject common people to needless power struggles,” he stated.

The senator said that prior administrations had attempted to persuade private companies to construct refineries, but bemoaned the fact that many licensees had not accepted the challenge.

He stated, “Many Nigerians had been granted licenses by previous administrations prior to Dangote taking the risk to construct his refinery.” With it, what did they do? A few of them simply profited from the allotment of crude oil.

Licenses to construct refineries and lessen reliance on imported fuel were given to 12 private operators as early as 2002, if my memory serves me correctly. After canceling the initial round of licenses, the Department of Petroleum Resources was able to issue nine fresh licenses to private investors in 2007.

“Today’s fuel importers didn’t take the initiative to band together and construct refineries.” During the Buhari government, private investors were once more given permits to construct modular refineries. The number of individuals who are banding together to falsely accuse Dangote of monopolizing the market is really few.

Ndume, the representative for Borno South, maintained that the charge of Dangote trying to monopolize the political sector was unfounded.

The former chief whip of the Senate further contended that the Federal Government has already taken action to open up the industry to fair competition and deregulate it in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act.

It is incorrect to discuss monopolies in a sector that has been deregulated. He continued, “No player has been given a special concession at the expense of others, and there are no intentional bottlenecks against anyone.”

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources are among the regulators he sought to intervene and stop disagreements from jeopardizing the distribution of petroleum products.