The Minister of State for Health, Isaq Salako, has warned that a nationwide strike by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) would severely impact hospitals across the country due to their reliance on fuel-powered generators.

Salako spoke in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Monday.

“A strike by NUPENG will obviously affect the health sector because, as it is today, our hospitals are 65 to 80 per cent dependent on diesel and petrol generators.

“So if there is a strike, it will also have an adverse effect on the health sector, and you obviously don’t want that.”

He appealed to both parties in the dispute to exercise restraint in the interest of the public.

“My comment is to appeal to both parties to allow reason to prevail; the ordinary citizen must be at the centre of the discussion. As rightly observed, any strike by NUPENG will certainly disrupt a lot of things, economic activities and social activities. So, we don’t want a strike.

“I’d just appeal that a balance needs to be reached. Dangote is playing an important role in the economy, trying to improve our domestic capacities. There is also the right to associate and unionise, but that must be balanced.”

‘Protest Against Alleged Anti-Union Moves’

NUPENG had on Friday announced that its members would cease work from September 8 in protest against alleged moves by the Dangote Refinery to prevent its compressed natural gas (CNG) tanker drivers from joining labour unions.

Although both the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) and the Direct Trucking Company Drivers Association (DTCDA) distanced themselves from the planned action, NUPENG reaffirmed on Sunday that it would proceed with the industrial action.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has urged the union to reconsider its decision. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, in a statement signed by the ministry’s head of information, Patience Onuobia, appealed to NUPENG to suspend the strike and give room for dialogue.

Dingyadi also called on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to withdraw the red alert it issued to affiliate unions, which directed them to prepare for solidarity action against what they described as “anti-worker and anti-union practices” by the Dangote Group.

“I have invited all the parties for a conciliation meeting tomorrow, Monday, September 8, 2025. Since I have intervened, I plead with NUPENG to rescind their decision to shut down the petroleum sector from tomorrow,” the minister said.

“The petroleum sector is very important to this country. It constitutes the core of the economy. A strike, even for just a day, will have an adverse impact, leading to heavy revenue losses running into billions of naira and causing untold hardship for Nigerians.”

He assured Nigerians that the matter would be resolved amicably, stressing that stability in the petroleum sector was crucial to national economic well-being.

Also weighing in, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, backed NUPENG’s position, insisting that the Dangote Group’s policy contravened Section 40 of the Constitution, S’ction 12 of the Trade Union Act, and Article 10 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Falana added that the policy also violated several international agreements Nigeria is party to, including the International Labour Organisation’s conventions on freedom of association and collective bargaining, as well as the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Channels TV)