Falana backs NUPENG, demands FG to caution Dangote
Femi Falana, SAN, a human rights lawyer, has warned that Dangote refinery’s alleged anti-union policy violates both Nigerian law and international labour conventions.
Speaking in a statement issued on Sunday, Falana condemned reports that the Dangote Refinery was compelling newly recruited CNG tanker drivers to sign contracts preventing them from joining recognised unions within the oil and gas industry.
“The National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers has directed its members to embark on an indefinite strike on September 9.
“The strike is a protest against the plan of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to force newly recruited drivers to sign an undertaking not to belong to any existing union,” Falana said.
According to him, the policy breaches Section 40 of the Constitution, Section 12 of the Trade Union Act, and Article 10 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
He added that it also contravenes Nigeria’s commitments under several international treaties, including the ILO Conventions on freedom of association and collective bargaining, the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.
“In view of the legal obligation imposed on the Federal Government of Nigeria by the Constitution, Trade Union Act and international law to respect the fundamental right of workers to freedom of association, the Registrar of Trade Unions should call the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to order without delay,” he insisted.
Falana further urged the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to halt what he described as the Dangote Group’s monopolistic practices, noting that they “violate the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act of 2018.”
“Even though powerful trade unions exist in capitalist countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, the Dangote Group is determined to obliterate trade unions in Nigeria because it has been allowed to operate outside the ambit of the law,” he said.
The lawyer reminded the public that Nigerian workers won the right to unionise even under British colonial rule, stressing that “to that extent, we support the strike of the National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers against the policy of the Dangote Group to erode the rights of Nigerian workers.”
NUPENG had earlier announced that its members would go on an industrial strike, beginning September 9, while PETROAN declared its intention to halt fuel lifting and dispensing for three days in solidarity.
Despite resistance from the Direct Trucking Company Drivers Association (DTCDA) and the PTD, the union has vowed to proceed with its strike.
The coming week now pits one of Nigeria’s most powerful industrial unions against its most powerful industrialist, with Falana warning that the law, not monopoly, must prevail.
