South-West NURTW chairmen slam Baruwa over accusations against Gbajabiamila

The council chairmen of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Southwest states, comprising Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti and Ondo, Alhaji Mustafa Adekunle (Sego) Alhaji Mustapha Ismail Adewale (Yaro) Chief Joseph Falope (Olofooro) and Comrade Ademola Odudu respectively have issued a scathing response to Alhaji Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa, the embattled former president of the union for wrong accusation

Baruwa had in a Save Our Soul (SOS) letter to President Bola Tinubu, accused the Chief of Staff to the President, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, of backing Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya’s presidency in the NURTW.

The chairmen described Baruwa as “a drowning fellow who would cling to anything to survive” and accused him of fabricating falsehood to gain public sympathy.

They pointed out that Baruwa’s team had previously blamed President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and former NURTW president, Alhaji Najeem Usman Yasin for their problems, only to now shift the blame to Gbajabiamila.

Putting the record straight, the chairmen emphasised that the problems in the union stemmed from Baruwa’s disregard for a court order.

“In 2023, some aggrieved members of the union in the south-west had instituted legal action at a National Industrial Court in Lagos, challenging his competency/ legitimacy to contest for a second term in office and the presiding judge in her wisdom had ordered parties in the matter to maintain the status quo ante belum pending determination of the case challenging Baruwa’s eligibility for a second term.

“However, Baruwa out of desperation ignored the order and conducted a ‘kangaroo delegate conference’ without recourse to the court’s position,” the chairmen said.

The chairmen claimed that Baruwa ignored the popular saying that he comes to equity and must come with clean hands. They expressed regret that Baruwa, who they claimed should be in jail for contempt of court, was instead accusing innocent people of being the problems in the union. They maintained that the people of the Southwest, who had nominated Baruwa in 2019, had rejected him again in 2023 after serving four years.

The chairmen stated that Baruwa had destroyed the union during his first four years in office and could not be trusted with another four years by members of the union in the south-west

“It should be noted that by the time he assumed office in 2019, all the six state councils in the south-west were intact and under the umbrella of the union, but barely one year in office, Baruwa had through his incompetency and managerial wherewithal destroyed the union and members of the union in the region suffered the consequences. We have yet to get Oyo and Osun states back into the NURTW family,” they said.

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