Concerned tanker drivers from different parts of the country have raised the alarm over public statements attributed to a faceless group operating under the platform of the PTD Elders Forum.
They accused the group, which they noted is not recognised by the PTD bylaws or the NUPENG Constitution of spreading falsehood to the public.
Recall that Comrades Williams Akporeha and Afolabi Olawale, President and General Secretary of NUPENG respectively, had in a statement on Sunday alerted the public and security agencies that the so-called PTD Elders Forum are infiltrators with a sinister motive to cause disaffection within the ranks of the genuine leadership of the Tanker Drivers Branch of NUPENG.
The NUPENG leaders also disclosed that Comrade Augustine Egbon is the duly elected National Chairman of the PTD-NUPENG, chosen by members at its Branch Delegates Conference held in Lagos on July 3, 2024.
Addressing journalists at a press briefing on Friday, tanker drivers from Kaduna, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Warri Zones disowned the PTD Elders, insisting that they are impostors masquerading as tanker drivers.
One of the drivers from the Kaduna Zone, Comrade Bashir Izalan, said he was surprised that a faceless group was laying claim to PTD-NUPENG membership.
He said:
"We don't have anything like PTD Elders in the hierarchy of PTD-NUPENG. We don't know them.
The only recognised national chairman we know is led by Comrade Egbon.
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His leadership is transparent, he gives us a sense of belonging because we can go anywhere in the country and feel at home. If we fall sick, we have insurance and hospitals where we would be treated.
If we have any problem either with our company or vehicles, the union is always ready and willing to solve the problem because drivers can approach any unit close to them at any point in time, explain themselves, and the union will stand up and rescue them. Even if you load in Lagos and go to Kano or Kaura Namoda, there is somebody to take care of your problems there.
So, the union is always handy and ready to come to our aid and solve our problems even before owners of the trucks know about them."
Speaking on behalf of tanker drivers in the Lagos Zone, Comrade Itanola Abiodun told reporters that the impostors do not belong to the union and appealed to security agencies to fish them out for prosecution.
According to him:
"Everybody who belongs to a union has a unit and zone where that unit is located. Then, they have a PTD branch. Those units where they claimed they come from do not exist. We in those zones do not know them.
Their names are not known to us at all. They should mention the units they belong to for discerning minds to vouch for their authenticity.
They cannot even say the units or zones they belong to. They are not speaking for us. They are impostors, hired to wreak havoc in our union.
We all have a sense of belonging in PTD. We want to be part of PTD-NUPENG because the leadership of our umbrella body, NUPENG, gives us a sense of belonging and is always there for us when we have challenges with our employers."
Also contributing, Comrade Chukwudi Okafor from the Port Harcourt Zone dismissed the claim that the leadership of PTD-NUPENG feeds fat on check-off dues and loading fees paid by tanker drivers.
Dismissing the allegation as unfounded and unfair, he told journalists that the money generated from check-off dues and payments for loading at depots is used to address the welfare of tanker drivers, particularly for health insurance and other pressing needs. He noted that such payments are made by truck owners (NARTO), not the drivers.
He said:
"Why are they complaining about money? Are they the ones paying? They know the benefits of our paying the money and we are very comfortable with them.
It is from that money that they take care of everything we need outside our comfort zones, including hospital bills and other unforeseen issues.
We have implicit confidence and trust in what they are doing with our money, and as beneficiaries, we have no reason whatsoever to suspect or accuse them of wrongdoing. Even if we have a problem or run short of allowances, we approach PTD and they come to our rescue without delay.
We, drivers from different zones in the country, know the benefits of NUPENG and we are enjoying them.
We are appealing to the government to continue giving PTD-NUPENG all the necessary support to thrive because they are helping us to have that sense of belonging, and we are proud of them."
Comrade Dennis Akore from the Warri Zone, however, gave a different perspective on the recent developments in the union.
He accused certain former members of the PTD Branch who lost out in the last delegate conference election held in Lagos of plotting to take over the leadership through the back door.
He said:
"The impostors lost out in the election conducted in 2024. When they were in the union, they abandoned us to our fate. Majority of us tanker drivers benefitted nothing.
All they were after was what they would reap from the union, disregarding the best interests of truck drivers who do the main job. That was why we voted them out. They are now lamenting and sponsoring impostors to discredit PTD-NUPENG.