Standup9ja: Crisis brews in NUPENG over leadership tenure extension

Leadership crisis is looming within the oil workers’ union, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) as one of its arms, Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) yesterday queried Igwe Achese’s leadership over delay in holding election since the expiration of its two-term tenure in October 2017.

The union, in a letter signed by Mr Salimon Oladiti, branch national chairman and Mr. Sunday Ochibejivwe, national secretary (PTD) addressed to the union’s President, Igwe Achese,  asked NUPENG’s leadership to urgently set a process of convening the union’s National Delegates Conference on or before March 26, 2018.

The letter said, “Comrade Igwe Achese and his team of National Executive Council (NEC) were elected in December 2009 for the first term of four years and re-elected in October 2013 for tenure of four years for the second term. He has served the two consecutive terms by October 2017, yet Comrade Igwe Achese and his team illegally extended the tenure beyond October 2017, where at a Central Working Committee (CWC) and NEC meetings of the union in December 2017, the matter generated heated debate. You as the General Secretary requested for grace of 90 days within which you will convene the national delegates conference.”

The union said with the expiration of 90 days on March 3, 2018, no date or venue had been communicated to members or branches for the national delegates conference.