By Kamil Opeyemi
The Lagos State Government has reacted to the judgement of the National Industrial Court sitting in Lagos which nullified the Lagos State Government’s appointment of a Caretaker Committee and reinstated the operations of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) in the state.
RTEAN had dragged the Lagos State Government to court after it dissolved the Association, suspended its operations , and on April 6, 2022, appointed a 25-man Caretaker Committee, chaired by Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, as administrator of the Parks and Garages in the State.
The suit filed on its behalf by Elisha Kurah (SAN), had joined the State Governor, Attorney-General of the State, Special Adviser to the State Governor on Transportation, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, and all the members of the Caretaker Committee as Defendants.
In the suit, RTEAN had argued that a state cannot interfere in the affairs of a trade union registered under the Trade Unions Act of 2004.
It further argued that the state cannot dissolve the union, contending that such matters were handled by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Delivering his judgement on Tuesday, Justice Maureen Esowe held that the act of Lagos State in suspending the National union’s operations in the state and setting up a caretaker committee was illegal and against the provisions of Sections 4 (1), (2) & (3), and 5 (1) & (3), read along with item 34 of the exclusive legislative list of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
The Court, therefore, restrained the Lagos State Government from further interfering with the operations of the union’s exco and ordered the police to refrain from intimidating the union’s officers, remove all barricades it imposed around their secretariat, and grant them unfettered access to their offices.
However, reacting to the judgement, the Lagos state government through the Ministry of Justice said Governor Sanwo-Olu did not set up a Caretaker Committee to run the affairs of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) in the state.
Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Grace Alo in a statement added that what the government did was to only set up Lagos State Park Administrators Ad-Hoc Committee on the Operations of Commercial Road Transport Workers to man the activities within Garages and Motor Parks in the state.
“Our attention has been drawn to reports on various media about a judgment delivered by Honourable Justice Maureen Esowe in respect of Suit No NICN/LA/381/2022 between the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria and The Executive Governor of Lagos State and 36 Ors.
“The reliefs sought from the Court by the Claimant include a declaration that the purported dissolution of the Elected Executive Committee of the Claimant operating in Lagos State and the appointment of a Caretaker Committee to run its affairs in Lagos State by the Lagos State Government is unconstitutional, null and void.
“It is on record that what the Lagos State Government set up is known as the Lagos State Park Administrators Ad-Hoc Committee on the Operations of Commercial Road Transport Workers Activities within Garages and Motor Parks and not a Caretaker Committee to run the affairs of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) in Lagos State.”
Alo further stressed that, the validity of Lagos State Park Management Committee was not an issue before the Court noting that the Committee was not a party to the suit.
“Several of the reports have mistakenly attributed to the Judgement that the Lagos State Park Management Committee (Committee) has been dissolved. The validity of the Lagos State Park Management Committee was not an issue before the Court and the Committee was not a party to the suit.
“The dissolution of the Committee is unrelated to the issues before the Court,” she said
While urging all affected parties to remain calm and be law-abiding, Alo disclosed that government had applied for the Certified True Copy of the Judgement and would file an appeal in respect of same.