Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), has said there is no division among the national leadership of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch of the union.
The national president of NUPENG, Comrade Williams Akporeha, stated this on Thursday while addressing journalists in Abuja shortly after the Comrade Augustine Egbon and other national officers of the PTD- NUPENG assumed office at the branch’s national secretariat in Abuja.
Comrade Egbon and some members of the branch had emerged as national officers last Tuesday during an election held in Ibadan in line with the constitution of NUPENG and Bye Laws of the branch approved by the National Executive Council of the union.
The election was conducted following the judgement of Justice Bashir Alkali of the National lndustrial Court of Nigeria in the Yenagoa Judicial Division, Bayelsa State, which nullified NUPENG’s election held on June 30, 2O22 in Ibadan where Lucky Osesua had emerged as national chairman.
Refuting speculations about cracks with its PTD branch, the NUPENG president who maintained that there was no faction in the branch noted that those who were not party to the election held in Ibadan in accordance with the Union Constitution and Bye Laws of the branch cannot lay claim to the national secretariat of the branch.
He stated, “On the issue of whether there is a faction in the PTD branch of our union, the fact that you weren’t part of an election process or just because you refused to contest and then go and declare yourself a winner elsewhere doesn’t mean that there is faction.
“To me, those are the antics of some desperate persons who wanted to hijack positions by all means and we have seen their kind of character, in the way they attacked the new national officers of the branch last week.
“If not for the grace of God, some of us would not have been here today but God saved us from their hands and they will face the wrath of the law for the criminal act they perpetrated. That’s not about election, that’s not about trade unionism. It is about criminality. So, I want to say here that as far as NUPENG is concerned, there is one PTD branch and the leadership of Comrade Augustine Egbon is the one recognized.
“I want to use this opportunity to implore Nigerians to ignore any criminal going parading himself as national chairman of PTD or saying he is a member of NUPENG or PTD branch leadership. We don’t know such kind of persons and we urge stakeholders and Nigerians to cooperate with this team which we know as the legitimate executive of the Tanker Drivers Branch of NUPENG.”
On his part, national chairman of the branch, Comrade Egbon, also corroborated the position of NUPENG president on the processes that led to his emergence as national chairman of the Branch.
He said, “The elections that brought my colleagues and I to these positions was carried out 31st October 2023 at the University of Ibadan Conference Center, Ibadan ni accordance with the Constitution of NUPENG and Bye Laws of our great Branch as approved by the National Executive Council of the union.
“For the records, in compliance with the judgement delivered by Hon. Justice Bashir A. Alkali of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, in the Yenagoa Judicial Division, holden at Yenagoa on Suit No.
“NICN/YEN/1/2022 which nullified the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch of NUPENG,s election held on 30th June 2022 in Ibadan, Oyo State, the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG)convened and peacefully held a special Delegates Conference for the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of NUPENG today the 31st of October 2023 at the University of Ibadan Conference Center ni Ibadan, Oyo State.
“The Special Delegates Conference fully attended by 712 delegates representing 177 Units of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch of NUPENG from the four Zonal Councils of the Union ni Warri, Kaduna, Lagos and Port Harcourt Zones of our great Union (NUPENG).”