CITIZENS COMPASS – THE National Industrial Court of Nigeria sitting in Lagos, on Tuesday, declared Lagos State Parks Management Committee headed by Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya popularlly known as MC Oluomo as illegal in the state.
The court also ordered reinstatement of the activities of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) in Lagos State, nullifying the state government’s appointment of a caretaker committee.
The order was sequel to a suit with ID number: NICN/LA/381/2022, in October 2022 challenging the Lagos State government for allegedly dissolving the elected executive committee of the union in the state and appointing a caretaker body, known as Parks and Garages Administrators.
The defendants in the case are the the state governor, the Attorney-General of the state, and the Special Adviser to the state governor on transportation, Sola Giwa.
The 4th-37th defendants are the Commissioner of police, Lagos State, and all the members of the caretaker committee.
In January 2023, the union through its counsel, Elisha Kurah (SAN) had argued that a state cannot interfere in the affairs of a trade union registered under the Trade Unions Act of 2004.
He added that the state cannot dissolve the union, saying such matters are handled by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Recall that the government dissolved RTEAN, suspended its operations and took over the garages.
But, counsel to the state government, Adebayo Haroun had contended that the government neither violate the law nor dissolved/ the national body’s operations in the state, but had sought to maintain law and order by creating the ad-hoc committee when violence ensued between the unions.
The counsel to the 5th to the 37th defendants, Taiwo Kupolati (SAN), in his arguments, said the state government has the power to maintain peace in the land.
“There was a crisis and the governor exercised his authority as the Chief Security Officer of the state and put up a committee to be in charge of garages for peace to reign.”
However, the court ordered the police to refrain from intimidating the union’s officers, to remove all barricades it imposed around their secretariat and to grant them unfettered access to their offices.
