Petrol station workers operating under the group Concerned Petrol Station Workers have rejected AA Rano’s plan to deploy Nigeria’s first fully automated, unmanned fuel stations this January, citing fears of job losses and heightened insecurity. The workers, led by convener and rights advocate Comrade Ibrahim Zango, warned that replacing on-site pump attendants with self-service systems could deepen unemployment, strain household incomes and aggravate national insecurity. AA Rano had announced that the stations would run 24-hour self-service operations using contactless payments, real-time monitoring and automated dispensing, removing the need for physical pump attendants.
Speaking from Kaduna in a statement issued Thursday, Zango said the initiative lacked adequate worker-protection safeguards and a clear transition plan, stressing that many attendants some with decades in the sector risk losing their livelihoods. “At a time when Nigeria is already grappling with mass unemployment, rising cost of living, and growing insecurity, deploying job-eliminating technology without safeguards is dangerous,” Zango said. He added, “They should not be pushed out of their livelihoods in the name of innovation,” urging the Federal Government, regulators and AA Rano’s management to engage workers in dialogue and craft policies that balance innovation with labour protection.