Dangote Refinery has announced a nationwide petrol price cut, ahead of the launch of its direct fuel distribution initiative now set for Monday, September 15, 2025.

Originally scheduled for August 15, the initiative will see the $20 billion, 650,000 bpd refinery deliver petrol and diesel directly to consumers using 4,000 CNG trucks, with zero logistics cost.

Despite an ongoing dispute with NUPENG, Dangote Group released a fresh price template on its X account, confirming its gantry price remains N820 per litre.

Retail prices have dropped to N841 per litre in Lagos and the South-West (from N860), and N851 per litre in Abuja, South-South, and North Central states (from N885)—a reduction of N19 to N34 per litre, depending on the location.

The new prices apply only to MRS and Dangote’s official distribution partners, as independent marketers are not bound by the template.

Meanwhile, NUPENG has threatened a fresh strike, accusing Dangote of reneging on earlier agreements—a claim the company denies, affirming workers’ right to union membership.

Dangote Petroleum Refinery has said membership of trade unions by its employees remains voluntary and not compulsory, in line with the Nigerian Constitution and International Labour Organisation conventions.

In a statement made available to Ohibaba.com, the company accused what it described as “distortions of facts” by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers concerning its trade relations with workers.

The refinery stressed that it does not interfere with or restrict employees’ right to freely join legally recognised unions.

“It is therefore misplaced to attribute responsibility to Dangote Petroleum Refinery for the personal choices made by drivers regarding union affiliation,” the company stated.

Dangote dismissed allegations that it forced drivers to sign contracts barring union membership, describing the claim as unfounded.

It urged NUPENG to focus on resolving its internal dispute with the Petrol Tanker Drivers unit rather than “embroiling the refinery in its conflicts.

”The company added that accusations of union suppression formed part of a broader attempt to undermine private sector progress.

The agreement between the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers and the Dangote Petroleum Refinery has collapsed, and here’s why.

The confrontation follows allegations by NUPENG that the Dangote Group reneged on a Memorandum of Understanding signed earlier this week, under which the refinery agreed to allow tanker drivers and other workers to freely unionise.

On Thursday, NUPENG’s National President, Williams Akporeha, accused Sayyu Aliu Dantata, a cousin of Aliko Dangote and key player in the refinery’s trucking operations, of defying the resolution reached on September 9 at the Department of State Services headquarters in Abuja.

The meeting, mediated by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammadu Dingyadi, affirmed the rights of Petroleum Tanker Drivers under NUPENG to unionise. Representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, DSS, and other agencies witnessed the signing of the MoU.

But Akporeha alleged that within 48 hours, Dantata ordered drivers to strip NUPENG stickers from their vehicles and forcefully enter the refinery in violation of union loading procedures.

“Alhaji Sayyu Aliu Dantata flew over them several times with his helicopter and then called the navy of the Federal Republic to come over ostensibly to crush the union officials. Our members are waiting for him and his agents to run them over,” Akporeha said in a statement.

The union condemned what it described as Dantata’s “impunity” and warned the Federal Government not to allow security agencies funded by taxpayers to be used against workers.