Some branch chairmen under the National Union of Road Transport Workers(NURTW) in Lagos State have strongly condemned attempts by the former president of the union, Alhaji Najeem Yasin, to drag the name of the union into partisan politics for his own personal gains.
In a press statement titled “A clarion call to save the NURTW from political wolves in sheep’s clothing”, and jointly signed by Akeem Anifowose, Biola Abioye and Taofeek Balogun, all of Lagos State council of the union, stated that “The attention of well-meaning and concerned members of the union has been drawn to a news report in which a former president of the NURTW, Alhaji Najeem Yasin, was quoted as saying that he would mobilize members of the transport workers union to support the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023 presidential elections.”
The members expressed disappointment with the statement credited to the former president and dissociated the union and its members from the mobilisation agenda.
“We are totally surprised that Alhaji Yasin is talking about mobilising transport workers at a time when thousands of transport workers are jobless and hungry, especially in our state, Lagos State.”
Apart from that, the members stated that the union has a working agreement with Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) which forbids the NURTW as a body from partisan politics.
“It is on record that Alhaj Najeem Yasin, as president of the NURTW in 2015, signed on behalf of the union a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with INEC for the delivery of electoral materials to designated points across the country. And part of the agreement as contained in the MOU is that the NURTW and its members must be apolitical (neutral) and the MOU still subsists.
“Again, Alhaji Najeem Yasin mobilising people for the candidate of the APC is double-dealing because Yasin is currently the deputy president of the NLC and the founder of the Labour Party. He is also the chairman of the NLC/Labour Party (LP) committee on mobilisation. He is, therefore, double-dealing and by his action betraying his primary constituency, the (NLC).”
The concerned members advised the former president to stop using the name of the union to attract favours.
“If Alhaji Yasin wants any political appointment, he should know how to go about it without dragging the NURTW into partisan politics for his own personal gains,” the statement added.
The members equally called on the incumbent president of the union, Alhaji Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa, to rise to the occasion by calling the former president to order before more damage is done to the reputation of the union.
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