By INNOCENT OWEH

Copyright independent

ABUJA – Fresh facts have emerged into why the Memorandum of Understand-ing (MOU) signed between Dan-gote Refinery and Petrochemical Company and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) broke down.

Recall that both parties had on September 9th signed a Memo-randum of Understanding (MoU) at the DSS headquarters, Abuja, where they agreed to grant work-ers liberty to belong to any union without interference.

The signing was believed to have been witnessed by the NLC, the Trade Union Congress (TUC), relevant government ministers, and other observers, but few hours to kick off the implementation proper, all hell got loose as the agreement was said to have been breached by one of the parties.

Shortly after, a statement, joint-ly signed by NUPENG President Prince Williams Akporeha and General Secretary Afolabi Ola-wale, emerged spurning further allegations the refinery’s Septem-ber 11 press release was aimed at undermining the union.

NUPENG accused the compa-ny of reneging on the agreement. However Dangote Group denied the claim, but the disagreement escalated further on September 11, when NUPENG issued a statement saying the refinery had misrepre-sented facts about the deal.

Akporeha, went on to claim that the company was attempting to sideline NUPENG by promoting a new group known as the Direct Trucking Company Drivers Asso-ciation (DTCDA).

The union also claimed that Dangote had directed the removal of NUPENG stickers from trucks and insisted they be replaced with DTCDA logos, a development that didnt sit well with NUPENG mem-bers.

The statement further alleged that individuals backing the new association were former union members who had lost internal elections and now face criminal charges.

Recall that trouble started when Dangote bought 4000 trucks to be-gin free distribution of fuel to fill-ing stations across the country, a move that NUPENG is strongly op-posed to owing to perceived fears that it might engender monopoly in the fuel distribution chain.

According to NUPENG, “Dan-gote’s announcement of free na-tionwide petrol delivery is a ploy to weaken competition and con-solidate control of tanker drivers under the DTCDA.

“Beyond tanker drivers, refin-ery staff and other workers in the Dangote Group have long been de-nied the right to unionise”.