Tricycle sector of NURTW is illegal – TOAN

The tricycle owners association of Nigeria (TOAN) has described as unlawful the registration of tricycle owners and operators under the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Road Transport Employers Association Nigeria (RTEAN). The Acting Chairman of the Lagos state branch, Chief Comrade Tunji Oyeniyi, in a statement said, the newly formed association called […]

The tricycle owners association of Nigeria (TOAN) has described as unlawful the registration of tricycle owners and operators under the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Road Transport Employers Association Nigeria (RTEAN).

The Acting Chairman of the Lagos state branch, Chief Comrade Tunji Oyeniyi, in a statement said, the newly formed association called tricycle sector of NURTW had since been prohibited from operating as a union by virtue of section 2 and 45 of the Trade Union Act.

Oyeniyi insisted that only TOAN is the “statutory or lawfully registered and officially recognized body to organize tricycle owners and operators as a trade union”

He noted that both the Tricycle Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria and the break-away faction of TOOAN cannot be called a trade union as all other existing association of tricycle owners and operators are registered under Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) by virtue of section 603 (1).

In his explanation, the acting chairman said in a judgment delivered at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, suit no. NICN/LA/407/2013, delivered by Justice B.B. Kanyip on May 10, 2017, it is the registrar of trade unions that has the power to register a trade union and by extension to direct or recognize the affiliation of a body to a trade union subject to the overriding review powers of the court.

“Under what law did Lagos State government direct that the applicant be affiliated to the NURTW?” he asked

Meanwhile, the President, Centre for Change, Dr (Mrs) Joe Okei-odumakin, has urged the security agencies particularly the police, should serve as peace makers in the feud between the unions, and hence should desist from harassing the members and leadership of TOAN.

In her solidarity message, she said that it is against morality and every known convention, “to force a group of people to adopt a particular identity against their will, as members of TOAN are being made to do”, he said