By Friday Omosola
The management crisis quaking the Ore Unit of the drivers wing of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) in Ondo State has worsened as the executive members of the union were reported to have been locked out of their offices by aggrieved members.
The crisis was said to have been followed by the refusal of the current leadership of the union to leave office after spending eight years.
The leadership was also accused of intentionally opposing conducting an election for the emergence of new leadership Following this crisis, it was confirmed that fuearcity might be home to ring in Ondo and Ekiti states as Ore units supply both states with fuel.
The Trumpet gathered that the unhappy members shut off the Unit office in Ore, and pledged not to allow the leaders who have spent eight years to return to the office as well as demanded for a new election that would create a new administration for the association. Some of the aggrieved union members in Ore Unit who were under the Warri Zone further denounced the zonal leadership of the association in Warri of conspiring with Ore Unit leadership to enable them continue rolling without conducting fresh election.
The Former chairman of Akure branch, Akintomide Olatutja while speaking with journalists said the zone leadership has been endangered not to authorize any tanker to hold up fuel supply to Ondo and Ekiti States to leave the depot.
He said: “We have petitioned the commissioner of police and copied the Director of DSS, Civil Defense and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Union matters because we are demanding that an election should be conducted and nothing else.”
He added that after the petition, the Commissioner of polisworevited the two parties and settled the matter amicably with agreement that the zonal leaders will come from Warri on the 29th of April and address us, adding that why they were waiting for the date to come, they realized that on the 21st of April some people in Warri were sworn in by the leadership in the Warri as caretaker members.
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The people were: chairman, Waheeb abiloye; Tajudeen Aduwo, deputy chairman 1, Henry Akinmoladun, Deputy chairman 2, Sunday Akindasha, and others , were already in Warri and the leadership in the Warri sworn them in as caretaker members.
Akintomide maintained that unless an election is conducted the office will be closed down and they will not allow the leaders to go into the office, adding that some in the executive have spent 16 years. He said, “ We have it on good authority that the Warri leadership was bribed them.”
Akintomide further accused the former member of the National Assembly who is the patron of our association in the Southwest as the one masterminding the crisis, saying he doesn’t want any election to hold.
“Unless an election is held, we are not allowing them to enter this office. We are determined to see this to the end. He revealed that tankers have been stopped to get to ore, especially if the waybill carries Ore, adding that they tried using the Ekiti waybill but now they have started stopping Ekiti too.
According to him ” They have stopped tankers from bringing fuel to Ondo and Ekiti states.
