New twist as NURTW dissolves Lagos council

The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has dissolved its Lagos State council under the chairmanship of Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo.

NURTW made this known in a statement titled: “Dissolution of Lagos State Administrative Council”, jointly signed by its national president, Alhaji Tajudeen Baruwa, and general secretary, Alhaji Kabiru Ado Ya’u.

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The dissolution of the council was the climax of a protracted crisis that rocked the union for weeks, which led to the suspension of Oluomo by the union, as well as the suspension of NURTW activities by the Lagos State Government.

Daily Trust reports that Oluomo and his loyalists earlier pulled out of the union shortly after his suspension.

Sources told our correspondent that prior to the dissolution, efforts were made to get the suspended chairman retrace his steps and apologise but to no avail.

A source said, “There was no form of remorse from the suspended chairman, and the option given to him to apologise was rebuffed. We were left with no other option than to dissolve the council.”

Oluomo was reportedly granted pardon after the mediation led by the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and other leaders but he refused to apologise.

In a statement, NURTW said, “The administrative council, during its meeting of March 15, 2022, graciously passed a resolution to grant pardon to the suspended state chairman if he shows remorse and tenders unreserved apology to the union.

“However, up until this moment the suspended chairman has bluntly refused to do so; hence the decision to take action against the Lagos State administrative council by dissolving same.

“All members of the dissolved state administrative council are hereby directed to hand over all property of the union, including cash, to the state secretary.’’

Spokesperson to MC Oluomo, Jimoh Buhari, in a chat with City & Crime, said the dissolution had no effect because his principal had since withdrawn from the union while the government had also banned the union’s activities.

He further said MC Oluomo and his people were solely behind the decision of the Lagos State Government to ban the union’s activities, adding that the dissolution was unconstitutional.

Buhari accused the NURTW president as acting outside the constitution, saying the crisis was not about the union, but the president himself.