Aliko Dangote, the President of Dangote Group, has ridiculed the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).

He mocked the union for warning Nigerians not to embrace his refinery’s recent fuel price reduction.

Daily Trust reported that he said to journalists on Monday at the refinery complex in Lagos.

Dangote said the price cut and the introduction of compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks for direct fuel distribution were designed to ease hardship and reduce logistics costs.

“They said we gave Nigerians a Greek gift, why don’t you give the French one? Even if it’s a Greek gift, it means that it is a gift that will still be there all the time,” he said.

Dangote, whose refinery marked its first year of gasoline production this week, also defended the CNG truck initiative.

According to him, the plan would not threaten jobs as NUPENG claimed but rather expand opportunities in the downstream sector.

“At least 24,000 jobs will be created through the initiative,” he added.

NUPENG versus Dangote

In recent weeks, the union threatened to shut down petrol distribution nationwide, citing the refinery’s alleged refusal to allow workers to unionise freely.

NUPENG had earlier dismissed the refinery’s price slash as deceptive, alleging that the move was part of a broader attempt to weaken the union and push petroleum truck drivers into a rival association, the Direct Trucking Company Drivers Association.

Daily Times earlier reported that the union also claimed that Dangote was sidelining workers’ rights and undermining collective bargaining.

“This is nothing but a Greek gift,” NUPENG said in a statement, accusing the company of trying to monopolise the haulage of refined products.

“The intention is to make only Dangote drivers, forced into the Direct Trucking Company Drivers Association, remain in work,”

“Nigerians should not support any work arrangement that denies drivers and other workers freedom of association,” NUPENG said.

The refinery’s intervention has sparked fierce debate online.

While NUPENG insists that the plan threatens thousands of drivers, many Nigerians on social media have mocked the union, questioning its credibility.

Critics argued that during years of rising fuel costs, the union failed to defend the interests of ordinary citizens.

In recent weeks, the union threatened to shut down petrol distribution nationwide, citing the refinery’s alleged refusal to allow workers to unionise freely.

The standoff prompted the Ministry of Labour to broker a Memorandum of Understanding in which Dangote reportedly agreed not to victimise workers seeking union membership