Augustine Egbon elected chairman as petrol tanker drivers get new leadership

The Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), an arm of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), has elected a new set of national officers.

At a ‘special delegates’ conference held in Lagos on Wednesday, Augustine Egbon was elected national chairman to run the affairs of the union for a four-year term — defeating his opponent, Lucky Osesua.

Oluchi Chinagorom from the union’s Port Harcourt zone was elected as the national secretary.

Also, Lawan Garba, Mathias Ote, Dauda Olabisi, and Olaolu Akinmuyise, were elected as national vice-chairpersons for Kaduna, Warri, Lagos, and Port Harcourt zones of the PTD-NUPENG, respectively. 

Malut Abubakar and Odinakachi Nwafor were also elected as first deputy national chairman and second deputy national chairman, respectively.

According to the statement, the election was conducted on Wednesday in compliance with the judgment of Olufunke Anuwe of the national industrial court (NIC) in Abuja, which annulled the previous election of the union held in October 2023 in Ibadan, Oyo state.

Dissolving the national officers elected at the last October election, the court had ordered NUPENG to constitute an electoral committee to organise a new national delegates’ conference within four months.

In his address before the commencement of voting, Solomon Kilanko, chairman of the electoral committee, said the process was non-discriminatory and in line with the court judgment.

“The judgment also demands that the election to be conducted should be all inclusive and non discriminatory,” he said.

“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 31st, 2023 election in Ibadan to ensure that all those suspended after the election are allowed to participate in this election.”

In his acceptance speech, Egbon commended the stakeholders in the union for ensuring a smooth conduct of the fresh election.

“There is no faction in PTD, all of us are one. We are one with NUPENG,” he said.

Also speaking, Williams Akporeha, national president of NUPENG, said the association has shown to the world that there is no division between NUPENG and PTD.