The long-uninterrupted petroleum products supply being experienced in Nigeria could be truncated from next week unless there’s some intervention in a brewing crisis between NUPENG and the Dangote Group.
Fuelling the brewing crisis is a disagreement between the two parties over Dangote Refinery’s planned rollout of 4,000 to 10,000 CNG-powered trucks for direct products distribution and an alleged refusal of truck drivers being engaged to join Petroleum Tanker Drivers Association (PTD), an affiliate of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).
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A statement seen by BusinessDay on Friday and signed by William Akporeha and Afolabi Olawale, president and general secretary of NUPENG, respectively, noted that disallowing the drivers being recruited from joining PTD amounted to a violation of their constitutional rights. The union further raised concerns and accused the Dangote Refinery of “scheming to monopolise distribution, crush competition, and enslave the sector and raise prices, which would ultimately result in an attack on the living standards of the masses of ordinary Nigerians.”
It alleged that a meeting involving NUPENG, the National Association of Road Transport Owners (employers’ association of the petroleum tanker drivers), and Sayyu Aliu Dantata, owner of MRS Energy, on June 23, 2025, on the instructions of Aliko Dangote, chairman of the Dangote Group, failed to find a common ground.
“By this statement, we call on the Federal Government of Nigeria and its agencies, including well-meaning segments of the Nigerian society, to call the two businessmen to order. They should be told to obey the laws of Nigeria. If they persist, NUPENG is set and ready to mobilise its forces to fight within the framework of the law.
“Meanwhile, since they have resolved to replace all petroleum tanker drivers in Nigeria and there is no one or institution that can stop them, the members of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch of NUPENG will, from Monday, September 8, 2025, start looking for alternative employment/skills and sources of livelihoods. We plead with the general public to bear any inconveniences our struggle may cause; it is a struggle that must be waged.”
Further inquiries by BusinessDay into the union’s statement revealed that tanker drivers have been put on alert to withdraw their services if the matter is not resolved amicably; a development bound to break the long-uninterrupted petroleum supply across the country.
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“We call on the Nigerian Midstream & Downstream Petroleum Authority to invoke its powers under Section 32(u) & (aa) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). Under those two provisions, the Authority is empowered to promote competition and private sector participation in the midstream and downstream petroleum operations. The Authority has the responsibility to identify, investigate and prevent abuse of dominant positions and restrictive business practices with regard to midstream and downstream petroleum operations,” the union noted.
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