The crisis and war of words rocking the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has continued to exacerbate as one of the leaders of Petroleum Tanker Drivers in Port Harcourt Zone, Elder Benibo Okorie recently lambasted the General Secretary of the Union, Afolabi Olawale for attempting to deceive oil workers by using the newly built national secretariat of the union as a commercial enterprise for profit making and personal gains.
Elder Benibo made the remarks during the Easter holiday at the Hotel Presidential during an interview with some labour correspondents in Port Harcourt on Monday.
He accused NUPENG leaders of converting the 8th storey building Secretariat to a multi-tenanted serviced office space for wiling members of the public as against the original purpose of using the building for the convenience of paid staff and elected officials of the union.
The elder statesman also lampooned NUPENG leaders for deviating from the original plan of the project when it was initially conceived. He further accused them of lying to the oil workers, especially PTD, NNPC and other stakeholders in the industry who supported them financially for the successful completion of the edifice.
The yet-to-be commissioned nNwas solicited, the 71 year old Elder Benibo said:
“When we have a mixture of people with conflicting ideas, activities and principles who are cohabitating in a single building, there is bound to be conflict of interest and the union activities could also be compromised since there won’t be restrictions for free entry and exit. The new secretariat of the union should be solely used for Union activities and not for commercial purposes because of the security implications.
“For those with very sharp memory, you will clearly recall that the President, Williams Akporeha and the General Secretary, Afolabi in December 2019, during the ground laying ceremony told the world that NUPENG Tower will be a mix structure of residential, recreational and office building comprising of eight floors with all the services including lift, adequate car park, water treatment facility, event/conference halls, offices for NUPENG staff, officials, flats and a penthouse all for the full use of staff and elected officials, they never said any of the floors would be put out for lease or let.
”These are men with no integrity or high moral rectitude, they are not fit and proper to be union leaders. We now have men who are resolved to put their names on the dark and horrible side of history. It’s a big shame. However, we are appealing to all stakeholders in the industry to help in taking NUPENG out of its numerous mess occasioned by Afolabi Olawale. NUPENG and PTD especially, need freedom and sanity. We want Comrade Lucky Osesua, Comrade Dayyabu Garga and Comrade Humble Power Obinna to continue in managing the national leadership affairs of PTD in the interest of peace and progress. Enough is enough we can not continue to have stooges as leaders. I thank the Nigerian media for giving us a voice in your respective platforms, God bless you all.”