The Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), a vital faction of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), in a theatrical display of insubordination, publicly defied the national union leadership, calling for the arrest of top bosses on charges of “reckless and destabilising” conduct threatening Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
In a conjoined Press Statement signed by Warri branch Chief (Mrs) Blessing Dafinone and Port Harcourt branch Comrade Joseph Dagogo-Jack, the PTD accused NUPENG President Williams Akporeha and General Secretary Afolabi Olawale of mismanaging the union, intimidating members, and sabotaging national economic stability.
They are angry because of NUPENG’s planned national strike on Monday, September 8, protesting reforms in the downstream petroleum sector. NUPENG is in disagreement with Dangote Refinery’s plan to import 4,000 compressed natural gas truck imports for direct fuel retail.
The operators received the initiative by Aliko Dangote and Sayyu Dantata as a pioneering measure to boost efficiency, curb illegal charges, and generate employment. They condemned NUPENG’s resistance as selfish and against the interest of the country’s development.
“This strike threat is insensitive and wicked. The responsible union balances negotiation, not sabotage,” the statement asserted. “NUPENG leaders are economic saboteurs who are using the union for their personal interest.”
PTD leaders further faulted the leadership of NUPENG for corruption, factionalism, and members’ welfare. They claimed that billions earned in dues had yielded no positive benefits, with the majority of tanker drivers earning less than ₦50,000 monthly and some receiving no monthly compensation.
The PTD, making a rare appeal, summoned the Federal Government, National Assembly, and security agencies to step in and arrest the NUPENG leaders to stave off unrest.
“No union is greater than the law. NUPENG should not be allowed to disrupt the peace and progress in the oil sector,” they warned.
The drivers cheered Dangote and Dantata as patriotic entrepreneurs revolutionizing Nigeria’s petroleum distribution process in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
With the strike date pending, all the stakeholders in the whole energy sector are on high alert with anxieties over serious economic consequences across the nation if there occurs an interruption in fuel supply.
