By Chukwuma Umeorah, Lagos
The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has insisted that Lagos State government must obey the order of the National Industrial Court (NIC) that ruled in favour of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), stating that it must be reinstated to resume its operations within the state.
In Septermber 2022, the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, ordered the suspension of the RTEAN, one of the affiliate unions of the TUC, citing violence in parts of the state as the reason for the suspension. However, in April 2023 the National Industrial Court ordered the reinstatement of the union, but the TUC expressed their grievances at the governor for refusing to obey that order.
Members and executive of the Union led by the president of the TUC, Fetus Osifo on Monday stormed the Lagos State House of Assembly in solidarity to protest the ban and what they described as the outright refusal of the state government to reinstate RTEAN.
According to Osifo, the actions of the state was unconstitutional as it had no right to meddle in RTEAN affairs in the first place and thereafter disobeying the order of the court. “Trade unionism is not in the concurrent list, as such, the state government does not have any powers to proscribe a trade union, that is the absolute responsibility of the federal government.”
He stressed that after series of meetings and negotiations, the state remained adamant. “If the Lagos state government does not yield to this clarion call, we would take it a notch higher.”
The Lagos state government earlier in a statement through the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, had said that it filed an appeal against this judgment and has a pending application for stay of execution of the said judgment.
However, Osifo maintained that an appeal was not the same as a “stay of execution” and pending its approval, the government was mandated to obey the rule of law. “The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu knows exactly what to do, he must obey the court order,” he emphasized.
He added, “We are protesting today to further draw home our demands to draw the attention of Nigerians to what is happening in Lagos, because for us as trade union, an injury to one is an injury to all. If this issue is not properly handled, it is going to snowball to become a national issue,” he warned.
The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Representatives, Mudashiru Obasa, who received the protesters was formally presented a letter addressed to the governor, highlighting their demands and elaborating on their grievances.
The speaker who was represented by the Deputy Majority leader of the House, Adedamola Kasunmu assured them that the letter would be promptly forwarded to the right channel for a swift resolution. “This is not going to be an issue that would be swept under the carpet, it is not done here and will not happen under the watch of the honourable speaker.”
He appealed to the protesters and urged them to remain steadfast in resolving the dispute through dialogue and other amicable means and applauded them for their peaceful conduct in carrying out the demonstration.