By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA—The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has declared as illegal, the National Delegates Conference conducted by Alhaji Najeem Yasin and Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede.

The incumbent President, Alhaji Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa, who signed the statement released on Thursday in Abuja, further described the conference as unconstitutional and null and void.

“The attention of the leadership of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has been drawn to a kangaroo National Quadrennial Delegates Conference purportedly held by Alhaji Najeem/Agbede’s led dissidents group on Wednesday 25th October, 2023 at Maha event center Abuja,” Baruwa stated in the release.

He emphasized that the said conference was not only a sham, but also a clear breach of the constitution of the union.

According to the statement, the NURTW had conducted its 10th Quadrennial National Delegate Conference on August 23, 2023, at Lafia, Nasarawa State, in line with the provisions of the union’s constitution. The conference had seen the swearing-in and inauguration of national officers.

“The Constitution of the union in Article 8,2(1) stipulates that the National Delegates Conference shall be held every four years in the month of August. So, holding the National Delegates Conference in the month of October is a clear breach of the Constitution of the union,” Baruwa explained.

He emphasized that the constitution of the union does not provide for an acting president when there is a substantive president in office.

The President pointed to the 1999 Quadrennial Delegates Conference, held in Enugu, where a clear winner for the presidency was not determined, and a supplementary election could not be held due to the absence of Najeem Yasin. Even then, no acting president was appointed.

Baruwa also mentioned a similar incident in 2019, in which Yasin attempted to appoint his kin, Alhaji Aliyu Isa Ore, as acting President.

This move was thwarted by the National Administrative Council (NAC) members.

“Alhaji Najeem the schemer was stopped from carrying out his evil intention by the robust National Administrative Council (NAC) members,” Baruwa added.

The union leader warned that Najeem and his group are determined to deceive some gullible people through illegitimate means.

He called on union members, the general public, and relevant authorities to disregard the illegitimate conference.

He stressed that the conference and its organizers lack legitimacy and should not be taken seriously.

“On the strength of the above foregoing, we hereby condemn in its entirety the purported delegates conference wherein one Alhaji Isa Ore was sworn-in as deputy President and mandated to act as President when there is already a substantive president in the person of Alhaji Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa,” the statement added.

The NURTW also noted that the same group had forcefully broken into the National Secretariat of the union with hired thugs in the early hours of August 28, 2023, and have occupied it since then.

The union insists that this conference is unconstitutional, illegal, null and void, and has no effect