The leadership of our Union has identified fraudulent advertisements from individuals falsely claiming to represent a dubious association of Transporters and Oil and Gas Marketers. The association urges the public and government institutions to be vigilant against these unscrupulous figures, who seek to exploit the current economic landscape following the removal of fuel subsidies. The Union reaffirms its support for recognized associations in the industry and urges all stakeholders to reject these miscreants and their deceptive practices.
The open letter states:
The attention of the leadership of our great Union has been drawn to advertisements in the news media by unscrupulous and dangerous individuals claiming to be members of an amorphous association that they assert represents both Transporters and Marketers of Oil and Gas. We wish to clarify that this association is nothing but an assemblage of failed rent-seekers in the subsidy regime and irredeemable smugglers of petroleum products disguising themselves as legitimate businessmen and women.
The general public and government institutions are hereby warned and strongly advised to be wary of these individuals, who are desperately seeking ways to exploit Nigerians and collect rents by other means since the current administration removed subsidies from petroleum products, making smuggling unprofitable for them.
The leadership of our great Union recognizes the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) as the legitimate umbrella body for Transporters in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry and the Employers of Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), with which our Union has a Collective Bargaining Agreement on behalf of Petroleum Tanker Drivers.
We also recognize the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), and the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) as legitimate marketers of Oil and Gas products. These associations are well-known and respected in the downstream sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
There is no ambiguity in the fact that Nigerian labor laws only recognize the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) as the umbrella bodies for oil and gas workers in Nigeria. These two organizations represent and protect the job interests of Nigerian oil and gas workers, including Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), as prescribed in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
We implore all well-meaning Nigerians and government officials whose names these usurpers and rent-seekers are invoking to urgently disregard any invitations from them and publicly denounce them, as they are purely mischief-makers and unscrupulous individuals who would sell their families and country for money. They are unfortunately part of those who have plunged the country into the current economic woes and hardships we are battling. Following numerous failed attempts to coerce our Union into collecting money for them at various petroleum depots, they have resorted to name-calling and cheap blackmail to further their insidious rent-seeking schemes.
Our solidarity remains constant, for the Union makes us strong!
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