… says DTCDA lacks power to speak for tanker drivers
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has reaffirmed its decision to begin an industrial action on Monday, declaring there will be no retreat no surrender.
The strike is in protest against the management of Dangote Refinery for allegedly barring drivers of its imported Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trucks from joining any trade union.
In a joint statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, NUPENG President Comrade Williams Akporeha and General Secretary Comrade Afolabi said the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) Branch of the union would withdraw from lifting petroleum products nationwide.
The union also dismissed a statement credited to Barrister Enoch Kanawa, President of the Direct Trucking Company Drivers Association (DTCDA), who claimed that NUPENG could not speak for tanker drivers and urged Nigerians to ignore the strike threat.
According to NUPENG, the DTCDA is a creation of the Dangote Refinery management, designed to prevent truck drivers from joining the only statutorily recognized union for tanker drivers.
The union emphasized that Barrister Kanawa, a lawyer and not a tanker driver, has no legitimacy to represent their members.
The statement alleged that the Direct Trucking Company Limited, established by Alhaji Sayyu Aliu Dantata and Alhaji Aliko Dangote, was set up to recruit drivers for the 10,000 CNG trucks being imported into the country.
NUPENG vowed not to bow to what it described as “slavish conditions” being promoted in the oil industry.
The attention of NUPENG leadership has been drawn to a news report on ARISE Television of September 6, 2025, and some national dailies, where a group calling itself Direct Trucking Company Drivers Association (DTCDA) asked Nigerians to disregard our planned strike.
We urge our members, the general public, and objective media platforms to dismiss these claims. The DTCDA was formed by Dangote Group as a compulsory association for its drivers instead of allowing them to join NUPENG, the only legally recognized union for tanker drivers.
The so-called President of DTCDA, Barrister Enoch Kanawa, is not a tanker driver. He has previously served as Executive Secretary of NARTO (2001–2012), worked as Legal Adviser to MRS Energy, and even contested for NARTO’s presidency in 2019 under the sponsorship of Alhaji Sayyu Aliu Dantata, but lost. These facts confirm that DTCDA is management-inspired and designed to cause confusion. There is no division within NUPENG—our solidarity remains unshaken.”
The statement further noted that the registered office of DTCDA is the same as that of MRS Energy Limited, describing it as another proof of the group’s origin.
It concluded:
Slavery ended centuries ago, but some capitalists are attempting to bring it back through restrictive working conditions. Any worker denied the right of association is no better than a slave. Nigerians must not encourage or support such practices.”