The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, has urged the government and Nigerians to discountenance purported looming protest by tanker drivers, saying nothing of such is being planned by genuine members of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, nationwide.

According to the Union, those claiming that tanker drivers are planning protest are not genuine members of PTD or NUPENG, but working for economic saboteurs hiding under faceless tankers drivers.

Recall that one Mr. Olaitan Idris, has alleged of a looming mass protest by PTD members over the recent election that produced Augustine Egbon as the National Chairman of PTD, which he described as “fake”

Dismissing the claims, President of NUPENG, Prince Williams Akporeha, also advised the media to be wary of disgruntled elements looking for public space to unleash their evil agenda against the constituted authority.

Akporeha recalled that “the election that brought the current leadership of PTD headed by Augustine Egbon was held on Wednesday, July 3, 2024 in accordance with the National Industrial Court, NIC- ordered Special Delegates Conference, SDC. The Federal Government through the Registrar of Trade Unions led government’s delegation to the election held at Funplex Event Centre, besides CMD village Lagos. It was well published by both print and electronic media. Apart from the Chairman,   15 other members were elected into different positions across the Kaduna, Warri, Lagos, and Port Harcourt zones of PTD. We had about 570 delegates in attendance. The election was conducted through an open ballot in the public gear. While most of the positions were unopposed, those that were contested for, individuals that contested against the winners did not show up after they were duly cleared to contest by the electoral committee set up in line with the court directive.

“All genuine members of PTD are happy with their new leaders and have moved on. We advise Nigerians especially the government to ignore those claiming tanker drivers are planning to protest. They are unpatriotic elements working for those planning to inflict more hardship on Nigerians. We also advise our media friends to always verify suspicious reports to avoid falling into the hands of disgruntled elements looking for public space to propagate their evil agenda.”

It will be recalled that Chairman of the Electoral Committee, Solomon Kilanko, during the election had noted that the SDC in line with the judgement of the NIC Abuja Division which had earlier nullified the election of PTD leaders, saying: “The judgement also demands that the election to be conducted should be all inclusive and non-discriminatory. To this end, the electoral committee notified all members that no one is barred from participating in this election and in addition, the list of delegates that are eligible today is still the same list that was used for October 31, 2023 election in Ibadan to ensure that all those suspended after the election are allowed to participate in this election.”