Former Chief Whip of the Senate and current senator representing Borno-South, Ali Ndume, has asked key players in the oil industry, including the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), the Depot and Petroleum Product Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) and others to embrace dialogue and resolve the face-off with Ɗangote Refinery.
In a statement yesterday in Abuja, the Borno lawmaker said, “I urge NUPENG, PENGASSAN, and all concerned stakeholders to engage in constructive dialogue with Ɗangote rather than inciting division and undue sensationalism in the media”.
Recall that NUPENG had recently embarked on industrial action, leading to the shutting-down of depots, following what it called the failure of the management of Ɗangote Refinery to allow its truck drivers join the union as vested in the Trade Union Act,
Also, DAPPMAN, the umbrella body of fuel importers, had accused the Ɗangote Refinery of a plot to stifle competition by selling its products at cheaper prices to international traders as compared to the amount it gives the same products to marketers in Nigeria
However, Ndume expressed concerns over what he called “a poisonous media narrative to paint Ɗangote in bad light in the eyes of Nigerians and the international community”, saying the development is not healthy for the country.
“Before Ɗangote 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 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 (DPR) after revoking the first batch and granting nine new licenses to private investors“, he stated.
“Those parading themselves as fuel importers today didn’t seize the initiative to come together to build refineries. Again, during the Muhammadu 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 Ɗangote of monopolising the market”.
“Our common goal should be to balance labour rights with the imperatives of national development and not putting ordinary citizens at the receiving end of a needless power tussle”, he added.
