By Obinna Uballa
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has launched a blistering attack on Senator Adams Oshiomhole, branding the former labour leader a traitor for his comments against a recent strike in the oil and gas sector.
In a statement signed by its president, Williams Akporeha, and general secretary, Afolabi Olawale, the union described Oshiomhole as “the Judas Iscariot of Nigerian trade unionism,” accusing him of siding with employers against workers.
Oshiomhole, who rose to prominence as president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) from 1999 to 2007, had criticised the nationwide strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) over the dismissal of 800 Nigerian staff at the Dangote Refinery. He told ARISE News that the action was “hasty” and risked hurting other workers and the wider economy.
But NUPENG pushed back, insisting that Oshiomhole’s remarks were “a gross distortion of established labour laws and International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions.”
“His attempt to rationalise the victimisation of workers for exercising their fundamental rights is nauseating,” the union said.
The group also accused Oshiomhole of clinging to power during his unionist days, claiming he never resigned as general secretary of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers before becoming NLC president.
It dismissed his criticism as hypocritical, citing his past controversial statement that corrupt politicians could “join the APC to have their sins forgiven.”
NUPENG defended PENGASSAN’s strike as legitimate, pointing to Section 31 of the Trade Union Act which allows sympathetic strikes. “Their action is lawful and rooted in the principles of solidarity,” it declared.
