The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has launched a blistering attack on Senator Adams Oshiomhole, describing him as the “Judas Iscariot of trade unionism” for criticising the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) over its recent dispute with the Dangote Refinery.
In a statement signed by its President, Williams Akporeha, and General Secretary, Afolabi Olawale, NUPENG accused the former Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) president of betraying the very ideals he once championed.
“These remarks represent a reprehensible attack on the fundamental rights of Nigerian workers and a blatant distortion of established labour laws,” the statement read.
NUPENG said it was “deeply disappointed” that a former labour leader had become “a staunch defender of corporate oppression,” justifying what it called the “victimisation of workers” who exercised their right to unionise.
The union questioned Oshiomhole’s moral standing, referencing former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s past description of him as “a comrade in the morning and a politician by night.”
“It is ironic that someone who once urged allegedly corrupt politicians to join the APC for absolution now presumes to lecture others on ethics,” the statement said.
NUPENG also accused Oshiomhole of misrepresenting his own labour history, alleging that he held dual positions as NLC President and General Secretary of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) until 2008 — a year after leaving the NLC.
The union described this as “an unyielding pursuit of power, influence, and personal gain.”
It further accused the senator of “rewriting history to align with his reactionary defence of capitalists who reject trade unions in pursuit of exploitative labour practices.”
NUPENG denounced Oshiomhole’s proposal for a “moratorium on unionisation” as “an absurd, regressive idea with no basis in modern democracy,” insisting that both Nigerian law and International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions guarantee workers’ freedom of association.
Citing Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, Section 9(6) of the Labour Act, and ILO Conventions 87 and 98, the union stressed that “employers have no authority to interfere in an employee’s right to unionise.”
On the PENGASSAN strike, NUPENG maintained that solidarity actions are legally recognised under Section 31 of the Trade Unions Act, dismissing Oshiomhole’s criticism as “historical revisionism and selective amnesia.”
“For a former NLC leader to decry this now exposes a shift from class solidarity to alignment with oppressors,” the statement read. “His warnings of economic harm echo the same anti-labour arguments he once battled.”
The union said Oshiomhole’s current stance marks “a profound betrayal of the working class” and declared him persona non grata among Nigerian oil and gas workers.
“This means we will no longer participate in or legitimise any events featuring him,” NUPENG stated, urging the NLC, the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and civil society groups to take note.
It concluded: “Oshiomhole’s insensitivity to the plight of sacked workers and his opposition to unionism poison the working-class resolve while emboldening exploiters. He has forfeited all moral authority to comment on labour issues.”
