The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has lashed out at former NLC President and Edo North Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, accusing him of siding against workers in the ongoing clash between PENGASSAN and the Dangote Refinery.
Speaking last Friday on Arise TV, Oshiomhole had criticized PENGASSAN’s industrial action—which led to a nationwide shutdown of oil facilities—as “hasty” and unfair to other workers. While acknowledging unions’ right to defend workers, he argued that such actions must not create wider economic hardship.
“In seeking to protect a particular set of workers, you must not risk the jobs of several others. The tools deployed in a dispute must not undermine other people’s livelihoods,” Oshiomhole stated.
But in a strongly worded statement signed by Williams Akporeha and Afolabi Olawale, NUPENG President and General Secretary respectively, the union condemned Oshiomhole’s stance, describing it as “a betrayal of labour principles” and a distortion of Nigerian labour law.
“We witness with utter disappointment a former labour leader now transformed into a vocal advocate for corporate oppression. His attempts to rationalize the victimization of workers for exercising their fundamental rights are not only nauseating but a flagrant misrepresentation of Nigerian Labour Law and ILO Conventions,” the statement read.
Entitled “Senator Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole’s Undistinguished Anti-Worker Vitriol”, the statement accused Oshiomhole of ignoring the alleged sack of over 800 workers at the refinery while faulting PENGASSAN’s method of protest.
NUPENG argued that Section 31 of the Trade Unions Act, Cap T14, LFN 2004, protects such solidarity actions, stressing that “an injury to one is an injury to all” remains the bedrock of global trade unionism.
“For some undistinguished senators to now find this principle inconvenient only shows a trading of once-avowed class consciousness for a place among the oppressors. Senator Oshiomhole’s rhetoric about ‘harming the wider economy’ is the same tired argument used by anti-labour entities he once fought against,” NUPENG said.
The union further described Oshiomhole’s position as “monumental ignorance of trade unionism,” recalling his past service on the Governing Council of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and its Committee on Application of Standards.
In a dramatic escalation, NUPENG declared Oshiomhole persona non grata within the ranks of Nigerian oil and gas workers, vowing not to participate in or legitimize any event featuring him.
“Oshiomhole’s denunciation and insensitivity to the plight of 800 engineers is a dangerous toxin meant to weaken the working class and embolden the class enemy. His position qualifies him as the Judas Iscariot of Nigerian trade unionism. What a monumental betrayal!” the statement declared.
The union reaffirmed its solidarity with PENGASSAN and the affected workers, pledging to deploy “every legal and industrial instrument available, in compliance with Nigerian law and global labour standards, to secure justice.”