Talks between representatives of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the leadership of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers dragged on for several hours on Monday night despite the role played by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Productivity for reconciliation.
This came as officials of NUPENG paralysed fuel loading activities across petroleum depots nationwide on Monday as they kicked against Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s alleged ban on workers’ unionism.
The meeting, involving all the parties, which was held at the conference room of the Ministry of Labour, lasted for several hours despite plans for both parties to immediately sign a Memorandum of Understanding to put an immediate end to the ongoing conflict.
The meeting had in attendance the national executives of NUPENG and officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress. Also present was the Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Ogbugo Ukoha, as well as representatives of the Dangote Group and MRS Petroleum.
The meeting was co-chaired by the Minister of Labour, Muhammed Dingyadi, and the Minister of State for Labour, Nkeiru Onyejeocha. The meeting, which was earlier scheduled to start by 10:00 am on Monday, suffered a setback and did not start until some minutes past 5 pm due to the late arrival of union officials.
Sources at the meeting noted that following the intermediary role played by the labour ministry, resolutions of the Memorandum of Understanding were read for all parties to agree upon and sign.
However, disagreements with some of the resolutions by officials of the Dangote Group led to further talks. As of 10:15 pm on Monday, parties continued talks in a bid to find a lasting solution to the crisis.
