Beware of petroleum smugglers, scammers claiming to be marketers, NUPENG warns FG

The Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) says the federal government should be wary of the activities of some petroleum products smugglers and scammers, claiming to be marketers and transporters.

In a statement jointly signed by Williams Akporeha, NUPENG’s president, and Afolabi Olawale, the general secretary, the union said the scammers have been exploiting Nigerians and collecting rents since the removal of subsidy from petroleum products and making smuggling profitable for them.

“The attention of the leadership of our great union has been drawn to some advertisements on the news media of some unscrupulous and dangerous individuals claiming to be members of one amorphous association they claim is both transporters and marketers of oil and gas at the same time,” the statement reads.

“We wish to state that this association is nothing but an assemblage of failed rent seekers in the subsidy regime and irredeemable smugglers of petroleum products disguising as businessmen and women.

“The general public and government institutions are hereby warned and strongly advised to be very wary of these individuals who are desperately seeking ways and means to continue to exploit Nigerians and collecting rents in other manners since the current administration removed subsidy from petroleum products and made smuggling unprofitable for them.”

RECOGNISED PETROLEUM/ TRANSPORT BODIES 

NUPENG said the federal government should relate with the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) as one of the legitimate umbrella bodies of transporters in the oil and gas industry.

The union also listed employers of Petroleum Tankers Drivers (PTD), which it said it has a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with on behalf of Petroleum Tankers Drivers (PTD).

“We also recognise Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria, MEMAN, as well as the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, DAPPMAN, as legitimate marketers of oil and gas products,” NUPENG said.

“These are associations of marketers that are well known and respected in the downstream sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

“There is also no ambiguity in the fact that the Nigerian labour laws only recognise the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, as the umbrella bodies for oil and gas workers in Nigeria.

“These are the two organisations that represent and protect the job interests of the Nigerian oil and gas workers, including Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) as prescribed in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”