…Rule out strike, seceding from NUPENG
From Uche Usim, Abuja
For the umpteenth time, petroleum tanker drivers have ruled out embarking on strike or seceding from their parent body, the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG), saying it was tantamount to sabotaging the Tinubu administration and further stifling the polity with petroleum products scarcity.
They described reports stating otherwise as fake news and mischief makers’ failed attempt to overheat the system.
The assurance came from the former National Chairmen of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch (PTD) of NUPENG, who paid a solidarity visit to the incumbent National Chairman, Augustine Egbon at the PTD-NUPENG National secretariat in Abuja on Friday.
John Ossai, a former PTD Chairman, while affirming the support of the former national chairmen, maintained that NUPENG would continue to play its leadership position in the affairs of the PTD Branch.
He also appealed to the unit chairmen to sustain the cooperation with the national leadership under Comrade Egbon.
He said:” We are proud of the election that our mother union, NUPENG handled, which produced the new leadership.
“We have to pay a courtesy call on our new national chairman. I want to use this opportunity to call on all the branch units of PTD nationwide to pledge their loyalty to the new leadership.
“The fight by those calling themselves factions is uncalled for and driven by self interest. We won’t accept it. NUPENG and PTD are one.
“Today, the Union is more refined. The PTD won’t break away from NUPENG for any reason. I am appealing to all the members to be law abiding and be loyal to their national chairman and NUPENG. That’s the flag we have been flying,” he said.
Also in his remarks, Comrade Tijani Zubair described the new national chairman as a bridge builder and peace maker whose leadership would address the demands of the union for better welfare for tanker drivers and good roads for haulage of petroleum products
Comrade Zubair cautioned against call for strike by the aggrieved group who claimed to be a faction as he noted that any strike would amount to a deliberate plot to sabotage the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.
The new National Chairman of PTD–NUPENG, Comrade Egbon thanked the former national chairmen for the visit. He assured them that his leadership would continue to cement the existing warm relationship with NUPENG and avoid any action that could threaten the peace in the downstream sector of the oil industry.
Other former national chairmen who pledged loyalty to the new chairman include Comrades Mudashiru Azeez, Timothy Ogbu and Salmon Akanni Oladiti.