The Lagos State Government says the Babajide Sanwo-Olu government is still shopping for park managers following the suspension of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Union in the state.
Lagos Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, made this known in a chat with The PUNCH on Monday.
The Sanwo-Olu government had on March 10, 2022, suspended all operations of NURTW in the state following the leadership crisis that engulfed the union and the subsequent withdrawal of Lagos NURTW Chairman, Musiliu Akinsanya, aka MC Oluomo.
In a statement on March 10, 2022, titled, ‘Lagos Suspends NURTW From Parks’ and signed by Omotoso, the state government had said, “After considering the provisions of the law, the Government hereby suspends the activities of NURTW, which must cease to operate in all parks and garages in Lagos State.
“The Government will set up a Committee to immediately take control of the parks and garages. Members of the committee will be key stakeholders in the sector.”
The government had further refuted reports that it had appointed Akinsanya as Lagos parks manager.
Also, the Lagos State House of Assembly had backed the formation of a parks committee by the executive arm of government.
Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation, Temitope Adewale, had said, “The House is fully aware of developments in the transportation union and now that the crisis has resulted in the banning of NURTW activities in Lagos, it is clear to state that all parks, garages and parking activities will be under the Lagos State Parking Authority as stipulated by law.”
“By law, the state’s Parking Authority has a General Manager on whose shoulders the responsibility now falls to manage the parks at the moment.
“The law approves a General Manager for the Parking Authority,” he had added.
When asked on Monday why the state government has not announced the park managers, the commissioner said, “It (the NURTW crisis) came suddenly and it is not every time you can begin to appoint people but you have to look for people who are familiar with the sector, those are the kind of people you want to put in that position.”
“I will find out today what has happened and revert,” Omotoso added but he was yet to do as of press time.
The NURTW chapter in Lagos reportedly generates about N123bn annually, according to a 2021 report by the International Centre for Investigative Report.
A Peoples Democratic Party chieftain in Lagos, Taofik Gani, had urged Sanwo-Olu not to hand over the collection of transport levy to Alpha Beta Consulting.
Alpha Beta, which was receiving 10 per cent of the tax collected on behalf of the state, is reportedly controlled by APC chieftain and ex-governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, according to a former Managing Director of the company, Oladapo Apara.
