The stakeholders meeting summoned by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, to put a stop to the strike called by members of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) ended in stalemate last night.
As at 11p.m at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, parties to the deliberation could not arrive at any meaningful resolution, reports Daily Independent.
While the Minister of Labour, Muhammad Dingyadi, and his counterpart, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkiruka Onyejiocha, who presided over the meeting, called for understanding and some compromises, some of the unionists staged a walk out but later went back into the meeting, and still failed to reach any meaningful conclusion.
Our reporter overheard some of the labour leaders, especially those from NLC and NUPENG, complaining that the representative from Dangote Group, Sayyu Dantata, was making matters worse for them as he refused to sign the MoU.
Some of the unionists, however, suggested that the meeting should be adjourned for a later date.
Recall that NUPENG and Dangote Group locked horns over unionisation issues, especially as the latter which is already refining petroleum products locally acquired over 4000 trucks to distribute fuel across the country.
Meanwhile, Head of Information at the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Benson Upah, later told reporters how the meeting went.
According to him, the Dangote Group representative, Sayyu Dantata, walked out of the meeting leaving both ministers and the labour union representatives alone.
Upah confirmed, “The representative of the Dangote Group walked out on the honourable ministers and organised labour.
“No agreement was reached, even when we bent backward to accommodate his uncompromising behaviour, he still did what he had to do. So we have no option than to do the needful”.
Asked what would be the needful, he said, “The action continues.”
Also asked when the impasse may likely be resolved, again he responded, saying, “Well that is not for us to decide, it takes more than a party to reach a resolution so whatever the representative of Dangote Refinery, when he sees the need for a meaningful dialogue we are ready.”
Also asked if the stakeholders, including labour has taken into consideration the impact the strike will have on ordinary Nigerians, Upah stated, “Do not put the unions on the defensive, I want you to speak courageously to the misbehaviour of this man”.
