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Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has launched one of his fiercest attacks yet on Nigeria’s influential oil-workers’ union, accusing it of sabotaging the country’s energy sector and putting political interests ahead of ordinary citizens.
In a statement issued over the weekend, Dangote Petroleum Refinery said the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) was “serving the interests of a cabal of oligarchs” rather than protecting workers. It described the union’s recent call to cut crude and gas supplies to the multibillion-dollar plant as a “reckless act of economic sabotage” that could deepen fuel shortages and hardship for millions.
A long-running feud over Nigeria’s refineries
The refinery’s management revisited a long-standing dispute dating back to 2007, when the Dangote-led Blue Star Consortium bought the moribund Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries for $750 million. The sale was reversed after resistance from PENGASSAN and its ally NUPENG.
“History has vindicated that decision,” the company said. “PENGASSAN and NUPENG wrote their names on the wrong pages of history by frustrating a deal that could have transformed the sector.”
The statement also accused the union of cheering the much-publicized rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery—calling it “a ruse and a scam on Nigerians”—and opposing reforms to the Petroleum Industry Act that Dangote says would have unlocked private investment in the upstream sector.
Union accused of mismanaging workers’ dues
Dangote Refinery went further, alleging that PENGASSAN has mismanaged billions of naira in check-off dues to fund the “lavish lifestyles” of its leaders while contributing little to social development.
“The Dangote Group is the largest private employer of labor in Nigeria and a leading taxpayer,” the company said. “What has PENGASSAN done with its billions? Can it publish audited accounts for the past 10 years?”
The statement highlighted the refinery’s record in building roads, training workers, creating thousands of jobs, and offering pay packages it claimed surpass the industry standard.
Calls for government intervention as tensions rise
Dangote condemned the union’s latest order to halt supplies of petrol, diesel, kerosene, cooking gas and aviation fuel, saying it threatened essential services from hospitals to schools and emergency response.
“This is not about protecting workers,” the refinery said. “It’s about a few oligarchs weaponizing hardship against over 230 million Nigerians.”
The company urged the federal government and security agencies to intervene to safeguard energy security and prevent the union from “bullying the country into chaos.”
