The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, will on April 24, elect Salimon Akanni Oladiti as its new President.
This comes as Williams Akporeha, the incumbent President, announced his exit at the weekend while speaking at the Quarterly National Executive Council meeting of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch, PTD-NUPENG, held in Warri, Delta State.
Oladiti, who is the former Chairman of the PTD-NUPENG and current National Trustee of the union, will be named the new NUPENG President during an election fixed for Lagos.
His emergence would mark the first time in the history of the union that a member of the PTD branch of NUPENG would be crowned as President.
At the meeting, the Zonal Chairman of the PTD-NUPENG Port Harcourt, Comrade Joseph Okafor, moved the motion for the unanimous ratification of Comrade Oladiti for the office of President of NUPENG, and it was seconded by Comrade Adekunle Akinlaja of the Lagos Zone.
In his remarks, Akporeha thanked members of the PTD branch who stood by him during his eight-year tenure.
He declared that his support for a member of the tanker drivers branch to succeed him as NUPENG President was borne out of conviction, submitting that he needed to reward their loyalty and confidence in his leadership.
He said, “Eight years ago, you stood by me in this same room. You didn’t only stand by me; you supported me. When things were tough, you were there through all the challenges.
“I want to appreciate all of you. If I stand to support one of your own as president, I have no apology. If I had done anything otherwise, my conscience would have troubled me. God used you to install me.”