The national president of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, has declared that no state governor has the power to suspend the activities of the union.
He made the declaration on Friday while inaugurating a seven-man committee to manage the affairs of parks and garages in Osun State.
The declaration comes on the heels of reports that the Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, suspended the activities of the NURTW in the state over rival clashes and recent violent activities.
Naijaonpoint reports that the governor, through his Commissioner for Information, Kolapo Alimi, said NURTW’s activities were suspended in motor parks across the state as part of measures to restore order and strengthen public security.
He also ordered the suspension of the collection of levies in the parks and directed security agencies to arrest anyone parading as an official or executive of the union in any motor park.
The crisis started when a faction of the union led by Kazeem Oyewale staged a protest against the leadership of the Osun NURTW chairman, Nurudeen Alowonle.
Inaugurating a seven-man caretaker committee led by Kazeem Oyewale, popularly known as Asiri Eniba, at the NURTW headquarters in Garki Area, Abuja, Oluomo, who was represented by his Deputy, Aliyu Issa Ore, maintained that the Governor, and all other Governors in Nigeria, do not have the power to suspend the union’s activities.
He said his submission is based on court pronouncements, adding that they have won several cases in different States regarding suspension of the union’s activities.
The NURTW boss insisted that states that hve announced a ban of the union’s activities are acting in contravention of court orders.
“I have the mandate of the President to address you today as the leader of the NURTW in Nigeria. It would be recalled that in the last few months in Osun State, we lacked leadership of our union in Osun.”
“Despite calling and sending a series of letters to invite our leadership in Osun, which they failed to honour that letter, most especially we heard that they are on the run.
“We could not leave the activities of the union without having the leader on the ground. Today, we heard that the state governor in Osun suspended the activities of our union, which they don’t have that power.
“Not any single state governor has power to suspend the activities of the union, because we are not under any state. There is an Act that established the NURTW. We have one series of decrees.
“I know in Oyo, recently, in Lagos, in so many states, they turned the deaf ear to our pain. But that notwithstanding, the issue at stake is not that issue. What is paramount to us is to have our leadership on ground,” Ore said.
He explained further that the need to set up a leadership in Osun State for the union’s activities is linked to the forthcoming governorship election in the state and its Memorandum of Understanding with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on distribution of electoral materials.
Ore stressed that the caretaker committee will remain in place until all issues affecting the union in Osun State are resolved.
“Most especially, we have MoU with INEC, of which I was in INEC yesterday, based on the directive of the president of our union. So, in view of this, we have to inaugurate the caretaker members, who are to mount the leadership of the NURTW, pending the time we resolve all issues attached to Osun.
“It is my singular honour to tell you and inform you that these are the leadership that will be leading our union activities in Osun. First, the chairman is Alhaji Kazeem Oyewale,” he said.
