Count me out of crisis at Oyo motor parks - Auxiliary, ex-NURTW boss

A former acting Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Oyo State, Alhaji Lamidi Mukaila, alias Auxiliary, yesterday said he was not part of the recent crisis that erupted at various motor parks in the state.

Mukaila, therefore, called on the Commissioner of Police in the state, the Director of the State Security Services (DSS) and other law enforcement agencies in the state to arrest anybody found breaching the peace of the state.

The transport unionist, who spoke in an interview with reporters in Ibadan, said change of leadership in the NURTW was not a new thing to all members of the union as the same situation had affected him in the past.

Mukaila said, “Why would I order anybody to take over motor parks in Oyo State? We have a way of doing our things, and that doesn’t include a forceful take-over anywhere.

“I was the deputy state chairman to my late boss, Lateef Salako, and was serving as acting chairman of the union in the state for about two months before Senator Abiola Ajimobi assumed office as governor of the state. When he took over, Taofeeq Fele (Oyerinde), Bidden Ejiogbe, Musa Alubankudi and Tiri Olowoposi came to Iwo road to take over from us. We did not resist and they took charge.

“We are all witnesses to the events that installed this current administration, so the situation is the same now. Others in our union have had their time and it’s our time now. I am sure they won’t contest it.”

Explaining the power rotation method, he stated, “There is a protocol in the NURTW which we have all been operating with. You assume leadership of the union when a party you have a relationship with wins. I was in my office when Senator Ajimobi became the governor and late Taofeeq Oyerinde, a.k.a. Fele, Bideen Ejiogbe, Musa Alubankudi and Tiri Olowoposi invaded our office and sent us packing. We never resisted them because we knew that is the tradition.

“But the NURTW profession is different now. The current chairman knows the rule. We abided by it when it came to their time. They should abide by the current situation. It is God that crowns and God has spoken.”

He denied that politicians were the godfathers who install the leaders of the union. But he quickly noted, “We have no godfather among the politicians here, our godfathers are in Abuja.”