The President of the National Union of Petroleum Gas Workers, NUPENG,Williams Akporeha has declared that there is not going back on its plan to embark on a nationwide strike beginning from Monday September 8, 2025 despite the federal government’s plea to the union to shelve the plan, The Punch reports.
Akporeba said the union leadership has agreed to meet with the federal government today, but will still go ahead with the strike.
The magazine reported that the federal government, on Sunday, begged the union not to embark on the strike because of the negative consequences it will have on fuel supply and economy generally.
The Tinubu administration also appealed to the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, not to join the strike after the umbrella workers union in the country, said its members will embark on a solidarity strike with NUPEND to press home their demand to force the Dangote Refinery from acquiring 4000 CNG-powered trucks for the distribution of its products across the country.
The management of the $20 billion petrochemical refinery in Lagos had recently irked NUPENG over its decision to purchase the trucks as part of its plans to ensure a seamless distribution of the products produced from the refinery.
In a chat with one of our correspondents, the NUPENG president, who admitted that the union was invited by the government to a meeting on the matter, insisted that the group would begin its strike today.
Akporeha said the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company have reached out to the union over the planned strike. He, however, told The PUNCH that the intervention of the government was not enough to stop the planned strike.
“The Federal Government and the NNPC are reaching out, but there is nothing concrete yet,” Akporeha said. Asked if the strike would still start on Monday, Akporeha replied, “Yes, though the Minister of Labour has called for a meeting. The meeting will be held tomorrow (Monday) in Abuja. But the strike starts tomorrow morning as planned.”
Nigerians will be faced with excruciating hardship, and huge revenue will be lost, if the planned strike action is implemented by the two unions, emphasizing the role that the refinery had played in stabilizing fuel supply in the country.
In a statement issued on Sunday by the Patienec Unuobia, shared by, Head of Information and Public Relations, Patience in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the federal government said it’s doing all in its powers to avert the strike.
The statement: “I have invited all the parties for a conciliation meeting tomorrow, Monday, September 8, 2025. Since I have intervened, I plead with NUPENG to rescind its decision to shut down the petroleum sector. I also appeal to the NLC to withdraw the red alert it issued to its affiliate unions to prepare for a nationwide strike in solidarity with NUPENG
“The petroleum sector is very important to this country. It constitutes the core of the nation’s economy. A strike in the petroleum sector, even for just a day, will have an adverse impact on the economy. It will not only lead to heavy revenue losses, but also cause untold hardship for Nigerians,”
“Hence, I plead with the unions to give peace a chance. I assure them that this matter will be resolved amicably to the satisfaction of all the parties involved.”
Not a few Nigerians insist that the strike is capable of affecting the stability that has so far been enjoyed in the sector in the last one year, urging NUPENG to have a rethink.
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