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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has challenged the decision of Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, to suspend the union’s activities following violent clashes among rival factions in the state.
Governor Adeleke, through the Commissioner for Information, Kolapo Alimi, announced the suspension of NURTW activities in motor parks across Osun as part of measures to restore order and strengthen public security.
The governor also ordered the suspension of the collection of all levies in motor parks and directed security agencies to arrest anyone parading as an official or executive of the union in any park.
The action followed violent clashes between rival factions of the union in motor parks across the state, during which gunshots were reportedly fired, creating panic among residents.
The crisis began when a faction of the union led by Kazeem Oyewale staged a protest against the leadership of the Osun State NURTW Chairman, Nurudeen Alowonle.
The protesters, accompanied by police officers, marched through major roads in Osogbo before arriving at the Old Garage Motor Park, where they encountered supporters of Alowonle. The confrontation soon degenerated into violence.
Reacting yesterday in Abuja, NURTW National President, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, insisted that the Osun State Government lacked the constitutional authority to suspend the activities of the union because it is a nationally registered body established by law.
Speaking through the union’s Deputy National President, Aliyu Issa Ore, during the inauguration of a seven-member caretaker committee for Osun State headed by Kazeem Oyewale, Akinsanya said the union had previously won court cases against similar attempts by state governments to suspend its operations.
He explained that the caretaker committee was constituted following the leadership vacuum within the Osun chapter of the union.
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According to him, despite several invitations and letters from the national leadership, the state’s union officials failed to respond.
“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, they failed to honour those invitations. We also heard that they are on the run.
“We could not leave the activities of the union without leadership on the ground. Today, we heard that the state governor suspended the activities of our union, but they do not have such power.
“No state governor has the authority to suspend the activities of the union because we are not under any state government. The NURTW was established by an Act, and we have legal backing.
“We have had similar experiences in Oyo, Lagos and several other states, but what is most important is ensuring that we have leadership on the ground,” Ore said.
He further stated that the national leadership considered it necessary to constitute a caretaker committee ahead of the forthcoming governorship election in Osun State, noting that the union has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the transportation of election materials.
Ore said:
“We have an MoU with INEC, and I was at the commission yesterday on the directive of our national president. In view of this, we have to inaugurate the caretaker committee to oversee the affairs of the NURTW in Osun pending the resolution of all outstanding issues.
“It is my honour to inform you that these are the leaders who will oversee the activities of our union in Osun State. The chairman is Alhaji Kazeem Oyewale.”
