‘Why NURTW crisis lingers’

A frontline chieftain of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji Bashiru Ishola, has blamed the crisis bewitching the Oyo state council of the union on the inexperience and confrontational attitude of the leadership 

He stated this while reacting to a statement credited to a former president of the union, Alhaji Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa, while speaking on a Splash FM radio program

Alhaji Ishola, in a statement titled ‘Setting the Record Straight,’ stated that “We are compelled to respond to recent statements made by Alhaji Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa, former President of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), regarding the crisis in the Oyo State Council of the union. In his interview on Splash FM, Ibadan, Alhaji Baruwa attempted to shift the blame for the union’s problems to his predecessor, Alhaji Najeem Usman Yasin.

“To set the record straight, when Alhaji Najeem Usman Yasin completed his two terms in August 2019, all six state councils in the South-West region were intact and under the union’s control. In fact, the national headquarters had successfully held meetings with the Oyo State government in July 2019, resulting in an agreement to form an executive committee with equal representation. The NURTW was intact and operating in the state. 

 “Alhaji Yasin left office in August 2019, but shortly after Alhaji Baruwa took over, problems began to arise due to his inexperience in administration. He had confrontations with the state government, and by October 2019, the Oyo State Governor had suspended the union in the state. And in its place, Parks Management System (PMS) was inaugurated. This move was later emulated by other states in the South-West region, leading to the proscription of NURTW in Oyo, Ogun, Lagos, and Ondo states.

“It should be noted that under the current national leadership, most of these states have since returned to the NURTW fold. Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and Ekiti state councils are now back under the union’s umbrella, a testament to the effective leadership of our union. This scenario would tell you that Baruwa was the problem. Because less than a year after he left office, new management under Alhaji Musiliu Ayinde Akinsanya, all the state councils except Oyo state are now back in the union.

“Again, on allegations that Alhaji Najeem Usman Yasin brought thugs and hoodlums from Lagos to Abuja to sack him, we must correct the narrative. The truth is that aggrieved members of the union in the South West region, dissatisfied with Alhaji Baruwa’s leadership, approached the National Industrial Court in Lagos. And in the course of hearing the matter, the presiding judge gave order that all the parties in the matter should maintain status quo. But despite the court order to maintain status quo pending the determination of the case, Alhaji Baruwa and his cohorts disobeyed the order and organized a kangaroo delegates’ conference in Lafia, Nasarawa state. He disobeyed the court order.”

Alhaji Ishola explained that the matter relating to the leadership crisis in the union is still pending in the National Industrial Court, Abuja Division.  “The matter was supposed to come up last month, October, but the presiding judge adjourned to January 28, 2026. We find it unfortunate that Alhaji Baruwa continues to mislead the public and feed them with lies”, he said 

He called on Baruwa to desist from issuing misleading statements that could further inflame tensions and instead allow the courts to determine the matters before them.

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