• Alleges plot to sabotage Dangote Refinery
• Seeks probe of oil cabals, union leaders over N30b national loss
The Yoruba Council Worldwide (Igbimo Apapo Yoruba L’Agbaye) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately suspend the issuance of petroleum importation licences, warning that some oil cabals and union leaders are working to sabotage the Dangote Refinery and undermine Nigeria’s energy independence.
In a strongly worded petition dated November 3, 2025, and signed by its President, Oladotun Hassan, the Council, backed by the Nigeria Coalition Group (NCG), Nigeria Youth Coalition (NYC), Coalition of Southern Groups (CSG), and National Youth Stakeholders Forum (NYSF), accused powerful players in the oil sector of economic sabotage, corruption, and blackmail against Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.
In the petition, the Yoruba group commended President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and Nigeria First Policy, but warned that continuing to issue import licences through the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) contravenes Section 317 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and poses “a grave threat to national energy security.”
The Council, however, alleged that leaders of oil unions and associations, including Festus Osifo, President of PENGASSAN and NUPENG; Lumumba Okugbawa, PENGASSAN Secretary; and Chinedu Ukadike, PRO of IPMAN, were involved in acts of sabotage in connivance with “oil cabals” and officials of the NNPCL and NMDPRA.
It, therefore, urged the President to order a comprehensive forensic investigation into the activities and finances of the accused individuals to trace and expose alleged financial improprieties.
The Yoruba Council proposed a “crude exploration nationalisation policy synergy scheme” to ensure a steady crude supply to local refineries and support indigenous investors.
It also advocated higher trade tariffs—or a total ban—on imported petroleum products to protect Nigeria’s refining industry, citing similar protectionist policies in the United States (U.S.).
The petition further accused certain unions of shutting down crude and gas supplies to Dangote Refinery, an act it described as “economic terrorism”, aimed at frustrating efforts to end fuel scarcity and stabilise prices.
Hassan, who hailed Dangote’s recent N2 trillion investment to procure 10,000 new tanker trucks for free nationwide distribution of petroleum products as “a patriotic and heartwarming gesture in support of national progress,” revealed that Dangote Refinery had survived 22 acts of sabotage allegedly linked to corrupt refinery workers and external collaborators with the intent of destabilising the new plant.
Meanwhile, the Council has announced a “Grand Solidarity and Thank You Rally” for Dangote and President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, slated for Wednesday, November 12, 2025, at JJT Park, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, starting at 11:00 a.m. Participants are encouraged to wear white and jeans as a symbol of peace and unity.
