The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has condemned what it describes as ongoing attempts to undermine the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Company.

It also called for the protection of the multibillion-dollar facility as a strategic national asset.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Tanko Baba, the ACF expressed concern over what it termed “thinly disguised attempts” to sabotage the operations of Nigeria’s largest privately owned refinery located in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State.

The forum listed several challenges the facility had faced since inception, including crude oil supply issues from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), regulatory concerns, pricing disputes, and industrial actions by trade unions.

“From conception, implementation and inauguration, the Dangote Refinery has continued to face unrelenting onslaughts,” Mr Baba said.

The forum noted the involvement of key petroleum sector unions such as the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), citing picketing and unionisation pressures.

The ACF questioned what it described as PENGASSAN’s “forceful” demand for refinery workers to join the union, stressing that union membership was a constitutional right and not an obligation.

Affirming workers’ rights to unionise, the group said the Dangote refinery must first be allowed to stabilise its operations before such rights were exercised, aligning itself with recent public comments by Senator Adams Oshiomhole and Mohammed Ali-Ndume.

“It is concerning that PENGASSAN continues to flout a subsisting court order barring disruptions to refinery operations,” Mr Baba added.

The ACF also expressed support for the refinery’s management and legal efforts to protect the facility, warning that the continued unrest could deter both local and foreign investors.

“Putting down the Dangote complex is a potent disincentive to domestic and international investors because it sends the wrong signals,” the group warned.

The ACF issued a series of recommendations, including support for Federal Government-led negotiations to resolve the impasse.

It also suggested sanctions against PENGASSAN for defying court orders and a judicial commission of inquiry to investigate recurrent strikes at strategic facilities.

Others include a declaration of the Dangote refinery and similar assets as strategic national infrastructure and measures to prevent unions from sabotaging national interests under the guise of labour rights.

The forum also called on labour unions to be cautious in their engagements, warning against actions that may inadvertently serve external interests aimed at stalling Nigeria’s industrial growth.

“The Nigerian labour movement must guard against unwittingly playing into the hands of international conspiracies determined to frustrate indigenous industrial initiatives,” the forum noted.

The Dangote refinery, inaugurated in 2023, is Africa’s largest single train refinery and is expected to significantly reduce Nigeria’s reliance on imported petroleum products.

(NAN)