The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has launched a scathing attack on Senator Adams Oshiomhole, branding him the “Judas Iscariot of trade unionism.”
The union’s statement followed Oshiomhole’s comments on the recent standoff between the Dangote Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
In a statement signed by NUPENG’s President, Comrade Williams Akporeha, and General Secretary, Comrade Afolabi Olawale, the union said Oshiomhole’s remarks were “a reprehensible attack on the fundamental rights of Nigerian workers and a blatant distortion of established labour laws.”
NUPENG accused the former NLC president of betraying the ideals he once stood for, alleging that he now defends corporate oppression at the expense of workers’ welfare. “We view with deep disappointment a former labour leader who has morphed into a staunch defender of corporate oppression, undermining the very rights he once fought to protect,” the union stated.
The statement further criticized Oshiomhole for justifying what it described as the “victimization of workers for exercising their rights to association and peaceful action,” describing his position as “repugnant and a flagrant misrepresentation of Nigerian labour law and ILO conventions.”
The union recalled former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s remark, calling Oshiomhole “a comrade in the morning and a politician by night,” questioning whether such a man still has the moral ground to speak on workers’ struggles.
It also accused the Edo North senator of hypocrisy, noting that he once held dual positions as President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and General Secretary of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) from 1999 to 2007, contrary to his public claims.
According to NUPENG, this history reveals “a pattern of self-interest, power obsession, and betrayal of the labour cause.” The group went further to question his claim of moral authority, adding that Oshiomhole’s current behaviour “represents the rantings of an apostate seduced by power and compromised by vested interests.”
Moreover, the union reaffirmed its commitment to protecting workers’ rights, citing Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, Section 9(6) of the Labour Act, and ILO Conventions 87 and 98 as the legal backbone for freedom of association and union activities in Nigeria.
NUPENG maintained that dismissing workers for unionising is unlawful and condemned Oshiomhole’s suggestion of a “moratorium on unionisation” as “an absurd and regressive idea with no place in modern democracy.”
It also stressed that PENGASSAN’s solidarity action with sacked Dangote Refinery engineers was a legitimate strike backed by the Trade Unions Act, insisting that “an injury to one is an injury to all” remains a core principle of global labour movements.
The union finally declared Senator Adams Oshiomhole persona non grata among Nigerian oil and gas workers, vowing not to associate with him in any labour-related activity.
“Oshiomhole’s insensitivity to these workers’ plight and his opposition to unionism in the petroleum sector poison the working-class resolve while bolstering exploiters,” NUPENG stated.
“The Senator’s stance marks him as the Judas Iscariot of Nigerian trade unionism — a profound betrayal of the working class,” the statement concluded.