Former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, on Wednesday, cautioned labour unions and stakeholders in the oil industry against what he described as a growing attempt to demonise Dangote Refinery.

His intervention follows the face-off between the management of Dangote Refinery and the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, as well as the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria.

NUPENG had recently embarked on industrial action, shutting down depots over the refinery’s alleged refusal to allow truck drivers to join the union as provided under the Trade Union Act.

DAPPMAN, on its part, accused the refinery of stifling competition by allegedly selling products to international traders at cheaper rates compared to Nigerian marketers.

Although the Department of State Services has since intervened to resolve the dispute with the workers’ union, tensions have persisted in the downstream sector.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, Ndume warned against what he called “a poisonous media narrative to paint Dangote in a bad light in the eyes of Nigerians and the international community.

“I urge NUPENG, PENGASSAN, and all concerned stakeholders to engage in constructive dialogue with Dangote rather than inciting division and undue sensationalism in the media.

“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,” he said