Onyekachi Eze 
The Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) has said contrary to the position of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), that its activities have been banned by the Lagos State government, it is fully operational in the state.
The two industrial unions had written to the state Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, threatening to mobilise its members for industrial action, if it fails to obey court order and remove all the barricades and armed policemen stationed at the offices of RTEAN by May 30.
But in a letter to the leadership of NLC and TUC, dated May 31, RTEAN’s acting National President and Secretary, Comrades Augustine Olajide Akhigbe and Anere Afam Celestine, respectively, said the National Executive Committee of the association was dissolved in March this year and replaced with acting one appointed to pilot its affairs.
“It is pertinent to put the record straight that in Lagos State, Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria are fully functional,” the letter said.
It added an electoral committee has been set up to conduct elections in line with the union’s constitution.
RTEAN denied that its “office in Lagos State is not under siege,” stating that the “union activities are running on a daily basis.”
According to the letter, none of RTEAN’s offices across the state or the two buses belonging to TUC, was seized.
“We, therefore, advised that the organised labour should trade with caution,” it advised.
