Embrace dialogue, stop demonising Dangote – Ndume urges NUPENG, others

Former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, on Wednesday, cautioned labour unions and stakeholders in the oil industry against what he described as a growing attempt to demonise Dangote Refinery.

His intervention follows the face-off between the management of Dangote Refinery and the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, as well as the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria.

NUPENG had recently embarked on industrial action, shutting down depots over the refinery’s alleged refusal to allow truck drivers to join the union as provided under the Trade Union Act.

DAPPMAN, on its part, accused the refinery of stifling competition by allegedly selling products to international traders at cheaper rates compared to Nigerian marketers.

Although the Department of State Services has since intervened to resolve the dispute with the workers’ union, tensions have persisted in the downstream sector.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, Ndume warned against what he called “a poisonous media narrative to paint Dangote in a bad light in the eyes of Nigerians and the international community.

“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 said

The senator recalled that previous administrations made efforts to encourage private operators to build refineries but lamented that many licensees failed to take up the challenge.

He said, “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 in 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 licenses was done in 2007 by the then Department of Petroleum Resources after revoking the first batch, and granted nine new licenses to private investors.

“Those parading themselves as fuel importers today didn’t seize the initiative to come together to build refineries. Again, during the 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.”

Ndume, who represents Borno South, insisted that it was wrong to accuse Dangote of attempting to monopolise the pol sector.

The former Senate chief whip also argued that the Federal Government has already taken steps to deregulate the sector in line with the Petroleum Industry Act and create space for fair 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 a special concession to the detriment of others,” he added.

He urged regulators, including the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), to step in and prevent disputes from undermining petroleum product distribution.