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 levies collection within the downstream sector.

This accusation came on the heels of a vote of no confidence passed on the leadership of NUPENG by the Lagos Zone of Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch of the union (PTD).

The vote of no confidence was passed on the National President, Comrade (Prince) Williams Akporeha, and the General Secretary, Comrade Afolabi Olawale by the ADITOP which accused them of greed, rascality, impunity, manipulation, highhandedness, and gross incompetence in leadership.

The PTD’s position was the outcome of an emergency meeting held by the State’s zonal executives of PTD on Monday, September 8, 2025, following a rising tension over Dangote Refinery and MRS Holdings Limited’s alleged resistance to unionization of its drivers and deployment of 4,000 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered trucks across Nigeria for the nationwide distribution of petroleum products.

In a statement on Monday in Abuja, largely perceived as a reaction to the strike by NUPENG, ADITOP accused NUPENG of extortion and excessive levies collection.

Alhaji Lawal Dan-zaki, the National President of ADITOP, dissociated the ADITOP from the purported strike, noting that the association was primarily formed to checkmate the excesses of the NUPENG, Petroleum Tanker Drivers, and multiple illegal levy collectors operating under NUPENG.

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He said that in the past five years, the association had written multiple petitions to various government agencies complaining about the NUPENG’s extortion and illegal activities within the downstream sector.

These petitions, he said, had been adjudicated by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), the Department of State Security Services (DSS), the National Security Advisor (NSA), and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

According to Dan-zaki, the NUPENG fed on this extortion, while remitting zero taxes to the Federal Government.

“NUPENG, PTD, and many other unions and associations hiding under the NUPENG umbrella, extort ADITOP members and depot owners one Naira per litre of every product loaded in a depot.

“Additionally, NUPENG, through PTD, collects an additional one Naira per litre of loaded product by any marketer. This is in addition to loading charges of N80,000 to N100,000 per truck.

“This is outright extortion and economic sabotage by NUPENG, PTD, and their affiliated unions and associations,” he said.