Members of Lagos State chapter of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) have raised concerns over how the union’s state chairman, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly called Mc Oluomo, has been openly running a parallel unbranded body against NURWT, banning sales of the union’s ticket across the state and declaring himself as boss of a personified new union, founded by him.
Aside from stopping sales of the union’s ticket, they claimed that Akinsanya also instigated his loyalists, who were members of the Lagos chapter of the NURTW, to denounce the union under the pretext that they were no longer interested in the body and would prefer to associate with Mc Oluomo’s founded union.
They alleged that the chairman banned the NURTW members under his leadership from buying tickets from the union on the 1st of March, 2022, and forced branch chairmen to sign an undertaking declaring their support for him and whatever decision he made, they should abide by it as against the national body.
As gathered, he has decided to run a parallel union with the national body and begun to engage in some actions that could ensure that the Lagos State Government grants him the permission to achieve his motive.
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.
MC Oluomo’s actions, the members claimed, have started affecting the agenda of the Lagos State Government to generate revenue internally and allocate it for the provision of infrastructures across the state, as his actions to print tickets could affect the share that was expected to be sent to the government.
According to the members, they now collect the revenue from commercial transport operators and remit to the state chairman directly as against the previous standards that part of the revenue made from tickets sales go to the government, its national body, and the Lagos chapter.
Speaking on newsmen on the sudden developments that had brought the state chapter against the government, the Ikeja branch chairman, Kunle Anifowoshe, on Sunday, said that the directives from MC Oluomo came as a surprise to them and that they do not understand his 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.
Another branch chairman that signed the document at the chairman’s office before his decoration as an ambassador of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), disclosed that they have been directed by MC Oluomo to embark on statewide demonstrations and disrupt activities across Lagos.
He noted that the demonstration was expected to commence on Sunday to attract the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, attention and get him on his side in the battle as well as ensure the union in the state operate independently from the national body that was stipulated to oversee affairs in Lagos.
Corroborating his 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 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.
Efforts to get the union’s chairman to respond have proved abortive, as calls made to him and some of the state executive members were answered and not returned.