Abuja – The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has thrown its weight behind the Dangote Refinery, urging the Federal Government to protect the $20 billion investment from oil union sabotage.
“We are here today to exhibit our solidarity with Dangote Refinery,” said Professor Ishaq Akintola, Executive Director of MURIC, at a peaceful rally in Ikeja, Lagos. “Dangote Refinery is a money spinner. It is Nigeria’s goose that is laying the golden egg. Yet this is the same refinery that the unions wish to strangulate.”
The refinery has been a game-changer for Nigeria, boosting the country’s oil output and earning foreign currency through exports to countries like the US, Spain, and South Africa. MURIC credits the refinery for the naira’s recent gains and a drop in inflation from 33.88% in October 2024 to 18.02% in September 2025.
However, oil unions PENGASSAN and NUPENG have been accused of trying to destabilize the refinery, with a recent strike cutting Nigeria’s oil output by 600,000 barrels. MURIC is calling for the Federal Government to intervene, demanding 100% crude allocation to Dangote Refinery and a ban on oil importation.
“We must not allow any union or group of persons to destabilize Dangote Refinery,” Akintola emphasized. “The Federal Government must protect Dangote Refinery like its own baby. Foreign and private investors will be scared if FG fails to protect it.”
MURIC also appealed to the National Assembly to review labour laws, saying any law enabling unions to dictate to private investors is “draconian”.
According to the organisation in its 8-point demand: “there must be 100% crude allocation to Dangote Refinery; Total stoppage of oil importation into the country; Supply of crude oil in naira to Dangote Refinery; The National Assembly must review labour laws and enact new investor-friendly ones; PENGASSAN and NUPENG should be banned from operating in private oil refineries; The Federal Government must protect Dangote Refinery; Implementation of the 15% tariff on imported products must start immediately; The dumping of imported products on Nigerian soil should stop,” MURIC said.