- MC Oluomo Rejects Osun Ban on NURTW, Inaugurates Caretaker Committee
- Says Osun Governor Lacks Power to Suspend Union Activities
- Aliyu Issa Ore, Akinsanya argued that the NURTW is a statutory organisation established by law and operates independently of state governments
The national leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has inaugurated a seven-member caretaker committee to oversee the union’s affairs in Osun State, despite the state government’s suspension of its activities following recent violence at motor parks.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the committee, chaired by Kazeem Oyewale, popularly known as Asiri Eniba, was inaugurated on Friday at the union’s national headquarters in Garki, Abuja.
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The development comes weeks after the Osun State Government suspended the activities of the NURTW following violent clashes between rival factions of the union at several motor parks across the state.
As part of measures to restore peace, the state government also halted the collection of levies at motor parks and directed security agencies to arrest anyone parading themselves as a NURTW official while the suspension remains in force.
The crisis followed a protest led by Oyewale’s faction against the leadership of the Osun NURTW Chairman, Nurudeen Alowonle. The demonstration later turned violent after members of the rival groups clashed at the Old Garage Motor Park in Osogbo.
Speaking during the inauguration, the National President of the NURTW, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, faulted the Osun State Government’s decision, insisting that no state governor has the legal authority to suspend the activities of the union.
Represented by the union’s Deputy National President, Aliyu Issa Ore, Akinsanya argued that the NURTW is a statutory organisation established by law and operates independently of state governments.
“Not any single state governor has the power to suspend the activities of the union because we are not under any state. There is an Act that established the NURTW,” he said.
Ore added that the union had successfully challenged similar actions by some state governments in court and maintained that the newly inaugurated caretaker committee would immediately assume leadership of the union in Osun.
According to him, the committee was constituted to provide leadership ahead of the state’s forthcoming governorship election and in line with the union’s Memorandum of Understanding with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He announced that the caretaker committee, led by Kazeem Oyewale, would oversee the union’s activities in Osun pending the resolution of the leadership crisis.
