Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Limited’s management has made a request for the leaders of the feuding National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Petroleum Tanker Drivers to resolve their differences.
The PUNCH reported that the multibillion-dollar Dangote Refinery asked the two unions to “urgently work together to put their house in order and ensure a harmonious working relationship.”
According to what was reported, the PTD’s attorney, Ekoja Enenche of Enenche & Co., wrote the refinery’s executive director, alleging that a faction of the association had illegally removed the union’s legitimate executives. The letter also urged the management to ignore the rival executives.
However, in response to the letter signed by Enenche, the business asked the two unions to settle any outstanding issues among their ranks so as not to disturb the tranquil workplace atmosphere at the location.
To ensure growth and productivity, the corporation tasked union officials and members with resolving the long-standing conflict between the two groups.
They were urged to refrain from any actions that would foster division, stating that doing so would be detrimental to getting the intended outcomes.
In November 2023, PTD, an affiliate of NUPENG, threatened to leave the organisation if its general secretary, Afolabi Olawale, and its national president, Williams Akporeha, would not step down.
The NUPENG president was accused by them of lacking the required competence to lead the union because he was not a member of the association.
They had claimed that since the NUPENG president was not a member of the association, he lacked the necessary ability to govern the union.
Nevertheless, the NUPENG secretary later refuted the accusation, stating that the group issuing the statement is not a part of PTD.
The group leaders who released the statement, according to Afolabi, have been taken into custody and placed under jail at Kuje prison in Abuja.
As at the time this report was filed, the two groups’ leadership struggle was still going strong with no clear winner.
It is anticipated that the Dangote refinery’s assistance will facilitate a speedy resolution of the dispute.
The 650,000 barrels per day integrated refinery and petrochemical Dangote Refinery is located in Lagos State’s Lekki Free Zone.
The refinery, owned by Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa, is believed to have the largest pipeline system in the world, spanning 1,100 km, and has the capacity to handle 3 billion standard cubic feet of gas each day.
The project is expected to be the largest single-train facility in the world and the largest oil refinery in Africa when it is completely operational.
A range of light and medium grades of crude will be processed by the refinery to provide clean fuels of Euro-V quality, such as diesel and petrol, as well as jet fuel and polypropylene. It recently declared that it has begun producing jet fuel and diesel.
