Members of the Lagos State chapter of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) have appealed for the State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s intervention to caution the union’s state chairman, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly called Mc Oluomo, from causing chaos with his decision to run a parallel office with the National President, Alh. Tajudeen Baruwa.
Gatekeepers News reports that the members alleged that the state chairman has started gathering members to his camp and had perfected his plans to announce a new union for the state as against the national body as well as declaring himself as boss of a personified new union.
They argued that the developments and others including allegedly stopping the purchase of tickets from the NURTW body and that he has mandated members to collect dues and remit directly to him; an action that could affect the Lagos Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
“We are appealing to the governor to quickly intervene and help caution him from embarking on all his plans across the State,” they said.
The members, particularly the branch chairmen, added that all they wanted in NURTW was peace and harmony that existed under the administration of Tajudeen Agbede, the former union chairman for the state chapter.
They alleged that they were forced to sign an undertaking declaring their support for him and whatever decision he made, they should abide by it as against the national body.
Some of the affected branches’ chairmen who claimed to have signed the undertaking on duress, lamented that “someone needs to stop Mc Oluomo from always using innocent members against the union national leadership and members as well as people that he feels could be a threat to his reign in the State.”
The Ikeja branch chairman, Kunle Anifowoshe on Saturday, while commenting on the development, said that the directives from MC Oluomo came as a surprise to him and his colleagues and that they do not understand his (MC Oluomo) motive behind the sudden actions.
Anifowoshe disclosed that the directives were announced during an emergency meeting that was conveyed by the chairman at the state secretariat in Agege, where they were made to sign an undertaking to be loyal and abide by MC Oluomo’s dictates.
The Ikeja Branch chairman, who declined to sign the documents and pledged his loyalty to the national body under the leadership of President, Tajudeen Baruwa, stressed that he could not have gone against the union’s rules and regulations, saying “I had to back out from it.”
He further appealed to the state governor to intervene and mandate the state NURTW chairman to jettison his plans and adhere to the rules and regulations guiding commercial transportation systems across the country, particularly Lagos State.
Another branch chairman, who spoke anonymously, after signing the document at the chairman’s office before his decoration as an ambassador of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), claimed that they have been directed by MC Oluomo to embark on statewide demonstrations and disrupt activities across Lagos.
Corroborating the claim, another branch chairman from Lagos East Senatorial district revealed that he could not have declined to sign the documents considering the atmosphere at the union’s secretariat and how MC Oluomo had threatened them that should they refuse to join his camp.
The branch chairman, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, lamented that they were ‘threatened by the chairman’ that they could ‘lose their position’ and that he does not want to become an ex-chairman, adding “this is the reason I signed it.”
According to him, some members had lost their seats after MC Oluomo was sworn in as the chairman and many were yet to regain their position in the Union after their removal.
“So all we are asking for is the governor’s intervention to warn him to abandon all the plans he had because if he embarks on it, the actions could affect the peace and harmony that had existed across Lagos,” he added.
