Senator Ali Ndume has accused fuel importers of attempting to discredit the Dangote Refinery with what he described as false claims of monopoly in Nigeria’s oil market.

In a statement on Wednesday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker said marketers failed to seize past opportunities to build refineries but are now uniting against Dangote’s investment.

“Those parading themselves as fuel importers today didn’t seize the initiative to come together to build refineries. Again, during the Muhammadu Buhari administration, licenses were granted to private investors to build modular refineries. How many of them actually scratched the surface? Yet they are ganging up to falsely accuse Dangote of monopolising the market,” Ndume said.

His comments come amid rising tensions after the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) threatened a nationwide strike over alleged anti-union practices involving Dangote Refinery’s newly acquired Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trucks. The strike, backed by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), was suspended on 9 September following a deal brokered by the State Security Service (SSS), Finance Minister Wale Edun, and other stakeholders.

Dangote Refinery had announced plans to distribute petrol and diesel directly to marketers and end-users, supported by an investment in 4,000 brand-new CNG-powered tankers. NUPENG alleged that drivers were forced to sign undertakings not to join unions.

Ndume, however, insisted that monopoly claims were unfounded, stressing that the downstream sector is deregulated. He recalled that earlier refinery licences issued in 2002 and 2007 yielded no significant projects, with some operators diverting crude allocations without building facilities.

“It is wrong to talk about monopoly in a deregulated industry. There are no deliberate bottlenecks against anyone, and no player has been accorded a special concession to the detriment of others,” he maintained.

The senator urged regulators to step in and called on NUPENG, PENGASSAN, and other stakeholders to embrace dialogue rather than escalate tensions.

“Our common goal should be to balance labour rights with the imperatives of national development and not put ordinary citizens at the receiving end of a needless power tussle,” Ndume said.