Osun govt dismisses claims of NURTW leadership dissolution

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo –

The Osun State Government has clarified that Governor Ademola Adeleke did not proscribe the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) or dissolve its leadership, insisting that Comrade Nurudeen Alowonle remains the substantive chairman of the union in the state.

The government said Thursday’s directive suspending NURTW activities in motor parks across the state had been misinterpreted to mean that the Alowonle-led executive had been dissolved, maintaining that there is no vacuum in the union’s leadership.

The Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, made the clarification in a statement on Friday, saying the suspension of NURTW activities was necessitated by the activities of some hoodlums and was not aimed at dissolving the union’s leadership.

“The attention of the Osun State Government has been drawn to the misinterpretation of the outcome of the Security Council meeting. At no time did the state government dissolve the executives of the NURTW at all levels.

“The directive was only to suspend the activities of the union in all motor parks pending the restoration of peace,” the statement read.

The government noted that Alowonle and members of his executive were appointed by the national leadership of the NURTW under Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, in line with the union’s regulations and guidelines.

It reiterated that the Alowonle-led executive remains the only recognised leadership of the Osun State NURTW by both the national leadership of the union and the state government, while directing security agencies to flush out Kazeem Oyewale, popularly known as Asiri Eniba, and his group from all motor parks, insisting he had no legal basis to operate there.

The clarification followed Thursday’s decision by the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Osun State chapter, to constitute caretaker management committees for transport unions in the state, naming Oyewale to head the NURTW caretaker committee, which was inaugurated on Friday by the union’s national president, Musiliu Akinsanya (MC Oluomo).