The leadership of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) yesterday insisted that its members will not pay any levy to the caretaker committee constituted by the Lagos State Government, describing the caretaker’s activities as illegal.
RTEAN’s National President, Alhaji Musa Mohammed, said the association would resist the move to extort its members through the committee.
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It would be recalled that the state government on September 29, suspended all activities of RTEAN and dissolved its elected executives in the state following crises in Ojo and Lagos Island.
Prior to the ban, the leadership of RTEAN had announced the suspension of one of its Lagos State Vice-Chairmen, Mr Oluwaseyi Bamgbose, popularly known as Student, for instigating unrest in the association.
But hours later the state government through the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Mr Sola Giwa, announced the ban on RTEAN’s activities while constituting a 35- man caretaker committee to take over activities of the association.
The union has already instituted a case before the National Industrial Court, Lagos, challenging the decision of the state government.
Mohammed said that members had been compelled to buy union’s tickets despite suspension of operations.
He said: “The committee has hijacked our operations because it is the same thing that we are doing that the committee the government set up is doing too.
“The government said they have suspended our operations in the state and our operation is for us to sell our tickets. Now that the government has asked the committee to print tickets and that is the ticket they are selling now to our members.
“Immediately after our last press release was out, the committee called another meeting to dissolve our constituted zones and chapels because those zones and chapels could not collect the N5million and N400, 000 they initially proposed to them to collect respectively.
“The association has about 350 chapels and 50 zones. Asking all the 350 chapels and 50 zones to bring money to the chairman of the caretaker committee directly just because the collection of N5m and N400,000 did not work. This cannot work.”
The president urged all members not to take any union money to the Oba or the state government because it was not their right.
He added: “If it is tax, we will know it is tax. This one that the government said they have suspended and now put an Oba, Kabiyesi , Seriki or Area Boy or whatever to head a committee to collect money for the state government or himself, we will not agree.
“We are calling the attention of the state government and security agencies to know that there is extortion of our members.”
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