Lagos NURTW elders give national body seven days to withdraw MC Oluomo’s suspension

By Akinwande Soji-Ojo

The Group of Elders of the National Union of Road Transport Workers(NURTW) in Lagos State has asked the national body of the union to withdraw the suspension of its state chairman, Musiliu Akinsanya, aka MC Oluomo, within seven days.

The elders issued the ultimatum in a letter addressed to the national body of the union in Abuja, and dated March 14, 2022.

The letter, which was made available to newsmen on Tuesday, was signed by Samuel Jonah, Alao Adewuyi, Alamu Otegbeye, Bola Lemboye and Stephen Falusi.

The group also asked the national body of the union to withdraw a letter appointing another chairman for the Lagos State Chapter of the Tricycle Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria.

The letter read: “Following the recent crisis rocking the Union in the state, the Elders of the Union met and resolved as follows:

“In order to close the tension, the National Headquarters should withdraw the controversial letter of Appointment of another Chairman for (Keke Maruwa) Tricycles as there cannot be two State Chairman in one State Council. There is no such provisions in the Union Constitution.

“Revoke the suspension letter of the State Chairman which we view as unwarranted at this period in the history of our Union.

“Finally, we expect the withdrawal of these two letters within seven days (7) to enable us conclude the settlement of the crisis once and for all.”

The national body of the union had last Thursday suspended Akinsanya following weeks of protracted conflict and leadership tussle.

The national body accused Akinsanya of resorting to intimidation, harassment, and assault on the newly-appointed Chairman, Tricycle Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria(TOOAN), Azeez Abiola, aka Istijabah, but Akinsanya refuted the claim that he instigated members of the union to assault Abiola.

He, however, noted that the legality of the TOOAN operations in the state is a subject of a suit pending before the National Industrial Court.

Subsequently, national body announced the indefinite suspension of Akinsanya for gross misconduct and directed him to hand over to his deputy.

But few hours later, Akinsanya announced his withdrawal of the Lagos State Council from the national body of the union.

He also asked Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to take over the running of all parks and garages in the state till peace returned to the union.

Sanwo-Olu later suspended the activities of NURTW from all parks and garages with immediate effect and set up a committee to immediately to take over the running of the parks and garages.