The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has criticised Vice President Kashim Shettima for allegedly siding with the Dangote Refinery in its ongoing dispute with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
In a statement issued on Tuesday to mark the World Day for Decent Work, NLC President Joe Ajaero said Shettima’s remarks amounted to defending corporate interests over workers’ welfare.
“We will not surrender the rights of Nigerian workers on the altar of profit. We will mobilize, we will organize, and we will fight back. We insist that there are no sacred cows,” Ajaero declared.
He accused the Vice President of suggesting that the Dangote Group, being a “national asset,” should be exempt from obeying Nigeria’s labour laws — a stance the NLC described as “a national tragedy” and “an affront to the rule of law.”
The union said the Vice President’s position effectively placed corporate power above national sovereignty, warning that “no company, no matter how big, strategic, or well-connected, can operate outside the law.”
Ajaero reaffirmed the NLC’s solidarity with Nigerian workers and PENGASSAN, condemning alleged labour rights violations at the Dangote Refinery.
“Dangote has brazenly violated the rights of its workers to freedom of association and the right to join trade unions — rights guaranteed by the Constitution, the Trade Union Act, the Labour Act, and ILO conventions,” the statement said.
The NLC also criticised what it called the Federal Government’s “abdication of responsibility” in protecting workers’ rights, arguing that by supporting corporate excesses, it was promoting impunity and injustice.
“For the government to side with the oppressor against the oppressed is a declaration of a class war it can ill afford,” Ajaero warned.
The union called for stronger enforcement of labour laws, recognition of unions across workplaces, and an end to what it termed the “sacred cow syndrome.”
“The era of impunity must end. The government must demonstrate through decisive action that the law is no respecter of persons,” the NLC added.
The standoff between PENGASSAN and the Dangote Refinery follows unresolved disputes over workers’ rights and alleged unfair labour practices.
