The Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) has directed its members in Lagos state not to comply with the directive of the association’s caretaker committee in the state.
The national body of the association also accused the Lagos state government of disobeying court orders with impunity over the unlawful dissolution of the Elected Executive Committee of the association.
The association in a statement jointly signed by its Deputy National President, Administration, Amb. Abubakar Muhammad Bishara, and the National General Secretary, Comrade Yusuf Adeniyi, a copy sent to Blueprint on Thursday, asked its members not to comply with the illegal directive asking the Care-taker Committee to take over the operation of the association in the state.
It stated that the state government does not have the powers to issue the directive especially when the National Industrial Court has ordered the parties maintain status quo ante bellum.
RTEAN said the action of the Caretaker Committee to replace the tickets at the parks is a clear violation order of the Industrial Court.
“State Government in dissolving the Elected Executive Committee of RTEAN and purportedly appointing a Care-taker Committee to run its affairs when it is a fact that a State Government does not have the power to interfere in the affairs of a Trade Union registered under the Trade Unions Act, a Federal Law.
“Despite the pendency of the suit and a motion seeking to restrain the defendants including members of the Care-taker Committee from continuing to interfere with the affairs of the Claimant (RTEAN), the members of the Care-taker Committee on the 8th of November, 2022 held a meeting wherein they directed that all the over 320 Chapels of RTEAN and over 50 Zones of RTEAN operating in Lagos State should pay the sum of N400,000.00 and N5m respectively to the Care-taker Committee on or before Monday, the 14th of November, 2022.
“It should be noted that the Lagos State Government not only purported to dissolve the Elected Executive Committee of the Lagos State Branch of RTEAN, but also purported to suspend the operations of RTEAN in Lagos State and yet, the Chapels and Zones of RTEAN are being taxed illegally to cough out such colossal amounts of money, ostensibly, for the benefit of the Care-taker Committee and the Lagos State Government as same would not be paid into the coffers of RTEAN for its operations.
“The Lagos State Government has also replaced all the tickets of RTEAN in their parks and has printed new ones in various categories ranging from N1,000 to N200 in the name of “Lagos State Park Administration” and the “Lagos State Care-taker Committee” and are using the so called Care-taker Committee to forcefully sell the said tickets to members of RTEAN in Lagos State.
“It can be seen therefore, from the unlawful directive given by the Care-taker Committee as well as the forceful sale of tickets to members of RTEAN, that the purported dissolution of the Elected Executive Committee of RTEAN Lagos State Branch and the appointment of the so called Care-taker Committee was just a smoke screen to be used to extort money from members, Chapels and Zones of RTEAN in Lagos State.
“We are therefore calling on all Chapels and Zones of RTEAN operating in Lagos State not to comply with the unlawful and/or illegal directive of the so called Care-taker Committee as they do not have the powers to issue the said directive especially when the National Industrial Court had ordered the maintenance of the status quo ante bellum’’, the association said.
