Adamawa IPMAN Leadership Tussle: North East Chairman Endorsed Butu's Faction

The prolonged leadership tussle between Alhaji Abubakar Butu and Buba kaburiye of the independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Adamawa State chapter has been laid to rest yesterday.

The northern east chairman Alhaji Aminu Adamu confirmed and certified the Alhaji Abubakar Butu's led faction in the state as the authentic executives official of the organisation.

He said this while addressing members of the press at a conference held in Yola Adamawa State capital weekend disowning the Alhaji Dahiru Buba Kaburiye's faction as he said they did not come through legal electoral process.

It could be recalled that the association has been engaged into union leadership squabble from its national level to state levels which brought about the two factions in some states including Adamawa for a while now.

During the well attended press parley at the Yola office of IPMAN along Atiku Abubakar way were many major stakeholders were in attendance in North East affirmed the leadership of Alhaji Abubakar Butu and 10 others as he said they were duly elected.

"With specific reference to the Yola Depot unit of IPMAN, we wish to state that, on or about the 25th day of September, 2014 an election was conducted to produce the Yola Depot Unit Executives.

"This election followed the vacation of office of the erstwhile IPMAN Yola Depot chairman Alhaji Babakano Aliyu Jada and his executive committee.

"The election was particularly supervised and monitored by the chairman and other executives of IPMAN North East Zonal office in accordance with article 17 of the IPMAN constitution," he said.

Adamu regretted that two days after the said election, a renegade group operating from an untraceable makeshift location under Kaburiye asserts itself as the new leadership of the union forcefully and has been causing tension as they collect levies illegally from unsuspecting members of the union.

He added that the Kaburiye group has latched its leadership on a judgment of a Federal High Court Port Harcourt which was passed in favour of Mr. Obasi Lawson even though they said judgment had no effect on unit or zonal leadership of the union.

"We need to restate here that for all that the Federal High Court Port Harcourt judgment was worth, it is not a judgment that touches on any zonal or unit election or the constitution of their executive committees.

"None of the members of the Kaburiye group of A. A Butu's group is a party in the case," he said.

Adamu accused Jonathan's administration for fueling the crisis in IPMAN as he acknowledges the leadership of Obasi Lawson 2 days to the expiration of his tenure even though the issue is before a competent court of law.

"We see this as a deliberate booby trap for the incoming Buhari's administration. This we imagine will rather escalate than resolve the leadership crisis in the National Executive Council of IPMAN," he said.