Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state on Wednesday explained that the new park management system in the state has nothing to do with the National Union of Road Transport Workers.
The response was in reaction to the Southwest leadership of the NURTW’s ultimatum over the appointment of Auxiliary and proscription of the union.
Ina a report by The Nation, Makinde through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Taiwo Adisa said the Southwest leaders of the union lacked the right information and understanding to comment on happening in the state.
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“The simple thing to say is that, the commentators from the NURTW side, they got the story wrong and interpreting it wrongly. They are saying that the State Government has appointed one of their own, their former union member as Park Manager that is the person of Mr Lamidi Mukaila, aka Auxiliary, but that is not true, there is nothing like that.
“Mr Mukaila Lamidi, Auxilliary has not been appointed as a park manger in any way. He is not a Park Manager, but the Chairman of the disciplinary Committee.
“The job of the Disciplinary Committee is straight forward. If there is any controversy between or among the stakeholders, that is the Park managers and the state government or the Park Managers and the Ministry of Works, or the Park managers and the consultants, the consultants are the direct supervisors of the Park Managers.
“The commissioner for Works is also a direct supervisor of the park mangers. The Disciplinary Committee is just standing on its own and when there are issues for disciplinary actions between or among the stakeholders. So, where there is no issue that calls for disciplinary actions, the Disciplinary Committee will just be standing on its own.
“The Disciplinary Committee is not involved in the day to day running of any park, so, there is no issues about the appointment of Mr Lamidi as a Park Manager, he is not a park Manager by any means and so they should not confuse the two things. That is just by the way.
On the issue of ultimatum to government, he said “The ultimatum is no issue because Oyo state has no business with any ultimatum. Those people that spoke, are they stakeholders in Oyo state? Are they stakeholders in the running of affairs in Oyo state? If they have any issues with their own states they should take such to their Governors and the Governors of their various states. As far as we are concerned in Oyo state, NURTW is suspended in Oyo state.
“If they can help the NURTW in Oyo state to resolve their internal crisis, if they like them so much they should help them resolve it. And when the internal crisis is resolved, the state government led by Engr Seyi Makinde said that as soon as they resolved their internal crisis, he will lift the ban on them, but they have not produced a way forward for the resolution of the crisis.
“If they produce a way forward for the resolution of the crisis within the NURTW in Oyo state, then the governor is ready to lift the ban, so what they should be doing is to help the NURTW in Oyo state out of its internal crisis rather than jumping at something they don’t know about.
“There is no faction matter in this issue. What is on ground is that NURTW does not run the motor parks in Oyo state, and the system that has been put in place is Park Management System, it is not called NURTW system. And the person that is put there as member of the system is not put there because of his membership of NURTW. He was put there because of his own person, his own name. He entered there in his own merit. None of the people that have been so selected were selected because of their membership of NURTW.
“They were selected in their own merit and so we are not running an NURTW system, we are running Park Management System and everybody knows that the motor parks are owned by the local government in trust for the state. And so, nobody is saying NURTW members who have their vehicles cannot go and pick their passengers at the parks.
“Nobody is saying, don’t make money from your business from the parks, but we are saying go to the parks, cooperate with the park managers, pay whatever bill they give you and do your business peacefully.”
