PTD Prefers Ministry of Labour, DSS To Conduct Its Delegates Conference
…Accuses NUPENG of bias
One of the elders of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) Branch of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) in Port Harcourt Zone, Comrade Joseph Dagogo-Jack, has said that following the display of open bias displayed by the NUPENG National Secretariat, it would be appropriate for the Ministry of Labour and the Department of State Services to conduct the National Delegates Conference of the Union.
This was as he said that PTD stakeholders are surprised that NUPENG is still rolling out election guidelines that are filled with clauses contradictory to the Union’s bye laws, stressing that the development is totally unacceptable.
Dagogo-Jack particularly admonished the leadership of the parent body especially the General Secretary, Afolabi Olawale to respect and obey the decision of the court which recently ordered a fresh and all-inclusive national delegates conference.
He said that since Olawale was perceived to be biased in previous elections, he should not be involved in the process and conduct of the fresh election.
Dagogo-Jack, who stated these while speaking with journalists in Port Harcourt on Sunday, June 2, 2024, described the judiciary as the true hope of the common man as well as commended Justice O.Y. Anuwe for protecting the sanctity of the temple of justice without fear or favour.
In the words of Dagogo-Jack; “With hindsight, things need to be done in a more acceptable manner this time in the affairs of PTD. In the interest of peace and appropriateness, Afolabi Olawale should not engage in any activity that will again compromise the electoral process.
“It will be more appropriate to have neutral bodies like the Federal Ministry of Labour and the Department of State Services to serve as umpire and returning officers, so that the process will be transparent, credible, free and fair.
“NUPENG should, as a matter of decency, comply strictly with the Court rulings which stated without ambiguity that all suspensions and query letters against all PTD members remain null and void.
“The same should also apply to the illegal embargo placed on the petroleum tankers belonging to Comrade Lucky Osesua, Comrade Gayyab Garga, Comrade Olabisi Akinlolu, Comrade Humble Obinna Power and others.
“Their trucks should forthwith be allowed to load at deports across Nigeria without encumbrance. This also means that after almost a year, Tanker Drivers who have been rendered jobless by Afolabi can now work, many thanks to the judiciary.
“The Court also held that pending when new executives of the PTD Branch shall emerge from the election to be conducted soon, the union should constitute a Caretaker Committee to run the affairs of the PTD Branch with a caveat that no member of the Caretaker Committee shall be a member of the electoral committee. This is very important.
“Just 48 hours after the judgement was delivered on Wednesday, the National Secretariat of NUPENG went ahead taking numerous misguided decisions. They were not bothered to reconcile the two factions by revoking all suspensions and sanctions springing forth from the nullified elections or giving instruction that pictures of the Ibadan faction National Chairman and National Secretary be removed from all PTD units across the four zones nationwide, but they are busy rolling out election guidelines that are not in alignment with the PTD Branch bye laws. It is very shameful and unbelievable that NUPENG will still want to drag us backwards.
“We also observed that the venue, date, and mode of elections were chosen without including both factions from the camps of Comrade Lucky Osesua and Augustine Egbon so as to harmonize ideas and also the electoral plans.
“More importantly, elections of the magnitude of PTD National Executives cannot be conducted without campaigns and posters for the purpose of sensitising all eligible delegates. Honestly there should be a huge distinction between an election and selection.
“Afolabi Olawale and his ilk should be properly guided and not cause any further legal infractions in the forthcoming Delegates’ Conference. Since 2023, those who are Afolabi’s stooges have been making derogatory remarks about me in the media, but I don’t care, I will continue to be on the side of truth.
“Those that do not have the presence of mind or the discipline to read beyond three lines or that are so filled with hate and blighted by ignorance that it has beclouded their better judgement are not fit to be in PTD or trade union.
“This is the time for PTD’s freedom from the hands of oppressors who are destroying the legacies of the union’s forbears,” Dagogo-Jack stated.