A coalition of civil society groups on Tuesday accused the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) of pursuing what they described as an “anti-people agenda” targeted at undermining the Dangote Refinery.
The groups, including the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria (COCSON), Nigerian Interfaith Forum (NIF), National Coalition for Market Men, Women and Artisans (NACOMWA), and Petroleum Consumers Protection Alliance (PCPA), staged a rally to the Presidential Villa and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in Abuja.
They also warned labour unions such as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) against actions that could destabilise the country.
In a joint statement signed by COCSON President Comrade Ibrahim Suleiman, NIF National Chairman Rev. Dr. Mathew Ayodele, NACOMWA President Comrade Boma Agbede, and PCPA Chairman Barr. Yusuf Danladi, the coalition urged security agencies to arrest the unions for allegedly violating a subsisting court order on strike.
“The actions and threats by the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), alongside the ill-timed strike threats by PENGASSAN, TUC, and NUPENG, represent nothing short of a direct assault on the Nigerian people, our economy, and our future. This is a direct call by PENGASSAN, NUPENG and TUC for anarchy.
” President Tinubu should hold these people responsible if there is a breakdown of law and order in this country and they should be immediately arrested for disobedience to court order,” the groups said.
They alleged that DAPPMAN was seeking to frustrate the Dangote Refinery in order to preserve its dominance in petroleum importation.
“For decades, Nigerians have been held hostage by a cartel that thrives on import dependency, round-tripping, subsidy scams, and artificial scarcity. DAPPMAN, an organisation that should be a partner in progress, has chosen instead to undermine the Dangote Refinery and other indigenous refining initiatives because they fear competition, transparency, and efficiency,” the statement added.
The CSOs further expressed concern over planned industrial action by PENGASSAN, NUPENG, and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), which they argued was not in the interest of workers but in support of vested interests.
“Let us be clear: this is not a strike for workers. It is a strike for cartels. This is not a fight for fairness. It is a fight against Nigeria’s independence in refining. History will not forgive any union that aligns with saboteurs against the very people they claim to represent,” they declared.
They commended a recent Federal High Court ruling restraining PENGASSAN from disrupting gas supply to the Dangote Refinery, describing it as validation of their position that the strike threats were “a calculated move to sabotage Nigeria’s refining revolution.”
The coalition urged government to protect the refinery from union interference, arguing that membership of private-sector unions should not be forced.
“”ASUU is the union of university lecturers in Nigeria, but it does not go after Covenant, Baze, Babcock, JABU, or Crescent universities to force their lecturers into membership.
“NURTW is the union of road transport workers, yet it does not force the drivers of God is Good, GUO, Ekeson, or Chisco into its ranks.
“NUT is the union of teachers in primary and secondary schools, yet it does not march into Chrisland, Grange, British International School, or Charterhouse to compel teachers to join.
“So why should Dangote Refinery, a private enterprise built with private sweat and risk, solving our collective refining crisis—be forced into the grip of PENGASSAN or any union that can shut it down at will?
“If any worker at Dangote Refinery is unhappy and feels the need for union protection, let them seek employment elsewhere or test their grievances in court. Nigerians cannot allow a situation where, after decades of suffering from fuel imports, one man builds a world-class refinery, and a union claims the power to cripple it at will,” the CSOs said.
The unions therefore made the following demands:”Total condemnation of DAPPMAN’s anti-people agenda.
“Strong opposition to any strike action by PENGASSAN, NUPENG, or TUC designed to sabotage Dangote Refinery and local refining.
“Unwavering support for the Dangote Refinery and other indigenous refineries as the path to energy security, job creation, and economic sovereignty.
“Filing of a lawsuit against DAPPMAN for deliberate economic sabotage and anti-competition practices.
“Organisation of mass rallies to the National Assembly, the Presidential Villa, and the NMDPRA to demand the scrapping of DAPPMAN.
“Mobilisation of international advocacy, writing to ECOWAS, AU, and UN bodies to expose how DAPPMAN is weaponizing petroleum products against the Nigerian people.
“Demand that government stands firm with Dangote Refinery and accelerates policies that will break the cartel stranglehold once and for all.”
While commending President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to industrialisation and energy reforms, they vowed to resist any attempt to bend to DAPPMAN demands, even as they urged President Tinubu, the National Assembly, and all regulators to stand with the people, not with profiteers.
To DAPPMAN, the groups said : “You have bled this nation long enough. Nigerians will no longer sit idle while you mortgage our future.
“If you proceed, we will meet you in court, in the streets, and in the global arena.
“We will mobilise thousands in peaceful protest to declare that this nation belongs to its people—not to cartels, not to saboteurs, not to profiteers.
“Nigerians deserve relief, not renewed suffering. Nigerians deserve progress, not sabotage. Nigerians deserve energy security, not endless scarcity.
“DAPPMAN’s days of exploitation are numbered. Those who collaborate with them will answer before the law, before history, and before the Nigerian people.”
