…As PTD Passes Vote of No Confidence on Union Leaders
The Association of Distributors and Transporters of Petroleum Products (ADITOP) has accused the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) of extortion and excessive levy collection within the downstream oil sector.
This accusation follows a vote of no confidence passed on the leadership of NUPENG by the Lagos Zone of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) Branch of the union. The PTD zonal executives, at an emergency meeting held on Monday, September 8, 2025, rejected the leadership of the union’s National President, Comrade (Prince) Williams Akporeha, and General Secretary, Comrade Afolabi Olawale, citing allegations of greed, rascality, impunity, manipulation, highhandedness, and incompetence.
The vote of no confidence came amid rising tensions over the alleged resistance of Dangote Refinery and MRS Holdings Limited to the unionization of drivers and the deployment of 4,000 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered trucks nationwide for petroleum product distribution.
In a statement issued in Abuja, ADITOP distanced itself from a purported NUPENG strike, accusing the union of operating as an extortion racket.
Alhaji Lawal Dan-zaki, National President of ADITOP, said the association was established to checkmate the excesses of NUPENG, PTD, and other levy collectors under the NUPENG umbrella. He noted that over the past five years, ADITOP had written multiple petitions to the Inspector-General of Police, Department of State Services (DSS), National Security Adviser, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, complaining about NUPENG’s illegal activities.
According to him, NUPENG “fed on extortion while remitting zero taxes to the Federal Government.”
“NUPENG, PTD, and other affiliates extort ADITOP members and depot owners one naira per litre of every product loaded in a depot. Additionally, NUPENG, through PTD, collects another one naira per litre from marketers, alongside loading charges ranging between N80,000 and N100,000 per truck.
This is outright extortion and economic sabotage by NUPENG, PTD, and their affiliated unions,” Dan-zaki said.
The accusations further deepen the crisis within the downstream sector as stakeholders brace for potential disruptions linked to union rivalries and reforms around the use of CNG trucks in petroleum distribution.