Salimon Oladiti, the newly elected President of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), has committed to enhancing workers’ welfare and diligently working to strengthen the union while upholding the dignity of labour.

He made the remarks in his acceptance speech after being unanimously elected as NUPENG’s new president at the union’s sixth Quadrennial Delegates Conference in Lagos, where new leadership was chosen to lead the union for the next four years.

Oladiti, a former national trustee of the union from the informal sector, is also committed to building on his predecessor’s achievements and using diplomacy to engage with all anti-union employers to protect members’ rights.

The leaders who emerged at the conference include Deputy President Oladejo Ebenezer, Deputy President Prince Moses, Treasurer Baba Kaumi, Trustee Omokero Israel, Financial Secretary Ogbodo Thompson, Public Relations Officer Ndaliman Adamu, and Vice President of Lagos Otegbayo Modupe, among others.

In his farewell speech, outgoing President William Akporeha highlighted numerous accomplishments from his term, including the notable seven-storey national secretariat known as NUPENG Tower, which was commissioned in December 2024.

Today, we are not abandoning a fragmented house. Instead, we leave a stronger, more resilient, and more democratic NUPENG – a union that has defended its members, grown its influence, increased its assets, and safeguarded its core values,” he stated.

To the new executive, Akporeha said, “The baton is yours. Guard this union jealously. Defend the rights of workers. Resist monopolistic control and never forget that justice and power must always rest with the working class.”

Speaking on the theme ‘Justice and Power in the Nigerian Industrial Relations System,’ Union Attorneys and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Folabi Kuti, stated that it directly addresses a painful irony.

He mentioned that while workers tirelessly advocate for local content, some local players in the oil and gas industry have become the biggest threat to their welfare and dignity.

He stated that maintaining the system’s credibility requires rigorous legislative reforms and strict enforcement of judicial orders against both government and corporate actors.

He emphasised that enforcing judicial orders is vital, particularly for corporate actors who think they are too powerful to follow the rules.