The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the South-West has decried the “maladministration” of its National President, Tajudeen Baruwa, that led to the suspension of the activities of the union in five out of the six states in the zone.

Leaders of the union in the region on Wednesday converged on the union’s zonal secretariat in Osogbo for a meeting where they passed a “vote of no confidence” on Baruwa.

They, however, endorsed a former chairman of the NURTW in Lagos State, Tajudeen Agbede, as the sole candidate for the congress of the union in July.

The zonal leaders described as “illegal”, plans by Baruwa to hold a zonal conference this week, stating that the matter is in court.

According to them, efforts made by leaders to ensure that he (Baruwa) runs the union in line with the constitution failed.

While throwing their weight behind Agbede as his successor, the union’s founding members said the continued stay in office of Baruwa will further damage the union.

Speaking with newsmen, one of the leaders, Elder Samuel Jonah, said the South-West made a mistake in nominating Baruwa as “our representative from the zone to the position of president of our great union.”

Jonah said: “It was the turn of the South-West to produce the presidential candidate, and we made the mistake of supporting him then. But four years down the line, Baruwa has destroyed the union by imposing his own candidate against the wish of the majority and running the union with impurity.

“It is unfortunate that he (Baruwa) has been trying to manipulate some disgruntled elements to endorse him for second term. We, the major stakeholders from the South-West are saying ‘enough is enough. We cannot tolerate his poor leadership style. He should not be allowed to continue to wreak more havoc on our union.

“We have all agreed to withdraw our support for him. He is no longer representing our zone. Baruwa was a mistake we made four years ago and we are correcting ourselves now.”

Meanwhile, Special Adviser to the Osun State Governor on Security Matters, Samuel Ojo, has written to the state Commissioner of Police to prevent the zonal election organised by a faction of the union.

In the letter, Ojo said the court has not given the final verdict on a pending litigation and this might cause crisis among members of the NURTW in the state.

He said: “Since the case has been in the court, there is non-existence of the National Union of Road Transport Workers in the states of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun and Ondo. The elected officials have been suspended/dissolved till the issue is addressed by the court.

“In view of the above, kindly use your good office to provide adequate security in the state to prevent election to be conducted by some factions of NURTW that might cause breakdown of law, peace and order in the state.” (Nigerian Tribune)

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