THE leadership of the Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria has appealed to the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to unseal its Lagos State office, stating that it is “unconstitutional.”
Sanwo-Olu shut down the Lagos office last week following the crisis in two out of the over 320 chapters of the association across the state.
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He ordered the suspension of the entire Lagos State branch of the association and appointed a 35-member caretaker committee to run its affairs shortly after the crisis in two chapters.
The RTEAN deputy national president, Abubakar Bishara, said in a statement made available on Sunday, October 2 that the governor had no power to suspend the activities of any trade union.
The statement read, “None of the provisions of the Trade Unions Act confers or gives any power to any state governor to suspend the activities of any Trade Union, nor empower the governor of Lagos State or any other state to appoint a caretaker committee for a Trade Union as a branch of it. The action of the governor is therefore ultra-vires and unconstitutional.
“We wish to further inform the members of the press that the constitution of RTEAN, which has been tested before the National Industrial Court, has made elaborate provision for chairmen of branches of the association to contest elections in the National body either as President or any other office and, if elected, could also hold the two positions without hindrance by any law as the provision of the constitution of the association.”
He stressed that the governor should have advised the aggrieved members to approach the court “and not for him to delve into resolving constitutional issues embedded in the RTEAN constitution.”
He accused the governor of appointing some members who “engineered and carried out the fracas” into the caretaker committee.
The association appealed to Sanwo-Olu to rescind his decision to suspend the activities of the Lagos branch and allow the RTEAN national body look into the matter in line with its constitution.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M