By Preye Odede-Graham
The Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), has reiterated that Augustine Egbon is not the National Chairman of the Branch, maintaining that Comrade Lucky Osesua and Comrade Yusuf Garga, remain the Chairman and Deputy chairman of the union as recognized by law.
The union, which described Egbon as an impostor added that he cannot assume leadership position of the Branch through the back door or on the basis of Ibadan kangaroo election which was an outright product of court contempt, calling it also as “effort in futility, null and void”.
The legitimate National Chairman of PTD, Comrade Lucky Osesua stated this in a statement jointly signed by him and his Deputy, Dayyabu Garga and made available to newsmen across the country on Wednesday, January 17, 2024.
In the statement, PTD urged NUPENG leadership to properly educate Egbon and stop him from inciting members to violence through his misguided comments which are also subjudice and far from upholding peace and progress within the union.
The union further stressed that parading Augustine Egbon as the national chairman of PTD by NUPENG was simply insultive to the law and other constitutional guidelines.
“The President and General Secretary of NUPENG, Comrade Williams Akporeha and Afolabi Olawale cannot foist on the rest of us, Augustine Egbon as the National Chairman; it is not only illegal but also totally disgraceful to what trade unionism stands for and the rule of law,” the statement reads.
“Moreover, the Union is bigger than anyone. The Trade Dispute Act in Nigeria and ILO conventions and other extant rules and ethics are very clear about this. Let it be on record once again that the kangaroo election which held in October 31, 2023 in Ibadan was an affront to the Court and totally contemptuous, because a Court order had earlier stopped them from going ahead with the purported delegates conference which in its entirety was not recognized by law, a pure effort in futility and it is null and void.
“NUPENG leadership should also as a matter of urgency properly educate Augustine Egbon and stop him from inciting members to violence through his misguided comments which are also subjudice and far from upholding peace and progress within the union. Sending messages through the social media and mainstream media to misform members, other industry stakeholders and the general public has only put NUPENG in a bad light. We are however happy that relevant security agencies are already working on those incendiary and thoughtless comments.
“The world should know that we have been receiving many phone calls and correspondences from both far and near, hence this statement became necessary for us to accordingly put the record straight.
“Those seeking to harass, intimidate or trying to remove Osesua and Garga from the position of national chairman and deputy national chairman respectively, are engaging in what we can call an enterprise in futility because they were validly elected by the great and hardworking members of PTD as stipulated in the union’s rules, guidelines and convention.
“Our election duly conducted in Abuja on Tuesday, 31st October, 2023, is the one recognized by law which subsequently produced Lucky Osesua, Dayyabu Garga, Humble Obinna Power, Olabisi Akinlolu, and other executives.
“The illegal leadership under Augustine Egbon could not avail itself legitimacy by serially violating the sanctity of our Branch’s by-law and other legal methods of conducting delegates conference. It is laughable and copiously ridiculous to see the General Secretary of NUPENG, Afolabi Olawale and Augustine Egbon thinking of printing calendar containing the pictures of illegal executive members and also unveiling portraits of illegitimate National Chairman and secretary which has no basis in law.
“Similarly the union’s trip levy collection across the country which is twenty eight thousand naira (=N=28,000) needs to be subjected to proper scrutiny and we are so glad that the DSS, EFCC, NFIU, ICPC, POLICE, Ministry of Labour and Employment and other key stakeholders are currently doing justice to that fiscal activities across deports and other loading stations.
“Egbon, Williams and Afolabi should also note that they cannot be a judge in their own case, and that is why it is always dangerous to cohabitate with individuals who are half-educated, the Court did not and never convicted Osesua, Garga, Obinna, Akinlolu and others for attempted murder, disturbance of public peace, contempt of court, etc neither were they indicted as widely purported by a surrogate ( Augustine Egbon) who is doing hatchet job for his paymasters. We don’t want to comment further on this matter which is currently pending before a court and as responsible trade unionists we would not like to contravene the rules governing subjudice unlike Egbon, Afolabi and others who are infantile in reasoning.
“However, our highly seasoned and robust legal team has assured us that we would soon be exonerated by the competent court of jurisdiction which will finally put this whole shenanigans to a stop and we therefore use this opportunity to appeal to all our members across the four zones in Nigeria (Lagos, PortHarcourt, Warri and Kaduna) to remain peaceful and law abiding. We also wish them a happy and prosperous year 2024 full of good health and abundance of accomplishments, peace and progress.” The statement concluded.