Fresh crisis rocks NUPENG as Stakeholders demand resignation of President, General Secretary - ITREALMS

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The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has been thrown into fresh turmoil as the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch and its stakeholders have called for the immediate resignation of the union’s President, Comrade Williams Akporeha, and General Secretary, Comrade Afolabi Olawale, reports ITREALMS.

The demand, contained in a statement signed on Sunday, September 21, 2025, by Comrade Preye Odede-Graham on behalf of PTD elders and stakeholders, bore the imprimatur of Comrades (Alhaji) Tajudeen Abubakar (Kaduna Zone), Chief (Comrade) Edafe Osas (Warri Zone), Comrade Joseph Dagogo-Jack (JP) (Port Harcourt Zone), and Comrade Kolade Fadahunsi-Ojelabi (Lagos Zone).

The stakeholders accused the NUPENG leadership of presiding over what they described as a climate of intimidation, victimization, and harassment of PTD members, contrary to the union’s rules and basic principles of human dignity. They further alleged that the union had been reduced to a tool for political attacks against the federal government, particularly President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and other critical players in the energy sector.

According to the statement, the leadership’s failings were largely responsible for the current disputes involving Dangote Refinery, NUPENG, the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), and other key stakeholders in the downstream petroleum industry.

The PTD stakeholders particularly faulted the NUPENG leadership for failing to acknowledge what they termed the resilience of the Dangote Refinery in overcoming challenges to commission its 650,000 barrels-per-day capacity plant, alongside a fleet of 4,000 CNG tanker trucks and 6,000 cargo trucks—together valued at N2 trillion and credited with creating over 40,000 jobs.

They urged President Tinubu to support the refinery with higher tariffs to discourage fuel importation, increase crude supply to the plant, and grant it oil exploration licences. They further called for the nationalisation of dormant oil wells to allow for proper dredging and improved production.

In their appeal, the PTD stakeholders called on law enforcement agencies, anti-graft bodies, regulators, civil society, the media, the legal profession, and the wider trade union community to rally behind their efforts to “re-engineer” NUPENG by removing its embattled leaders.

“On this note, we therefore appeal to all our members in PTD and others in various branches not to despair. Let us unite and put an end to this multidimensional nonsense and slavery in the union. United, we stand against economic saboteurs and enemies of progress in Nigeria’s economic powerhouse,” the statement declared.

Chuks Egbune/DoP