Barrister Tolu Babaleye, counsel to Comrade Ibikunle Tajudeen Baruwa in the ongoing National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) leadership dispute, has accused President Bola Tinubu of supporting his ally, Islamic State (Islamic State). Oluomo “illegally occupied” the position of union president despite a current court ruling that removed him from office
Babaleye accused President Tinubu of encouraging President Olomo to ignore court judgments and act with impunity, noting that the alleged presidential support had emboldened President Olomo to boast that only the President could remove him from office.
Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, the lawyer expressed dismay at the continued disregard for judicial authority despite a clear ruling recognizing Baruwa as the legitimate NURTW president.
“In my experience as a lawyer, once we get a verdict, we congratulate the person who won the case, especially if it is the final court verdict because we can be sure that it will be adhered to,” Babalaye said.
“But this time, the situation is very difficult. In fact, we have written to the Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) about this. We have written to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) about this. We have written to many people on this. We have even written to the National Security Adviser (NSA).”
He further disclosed that efforts to involve security authorities had no concrete results, claiming that MC Oluomo ignored official invitations.
“They (NSA) listened to our letter and invited MC Oluomo to come to Lagos, he didn’t come, his lawyer came. He was given a date to return but when I spoke to people, they said he said they should not worry, he would not come back and to this day we have not heard anything more about that letter,” he said.
“It’s like he’s above the law. The problem is that his father is in Israel because he keeps throwing names out of the presidency”.
The lawyer also said that during a meeting with the Minister of Labor, MC Oluomo publicly declared that his status in the union could only be changed by the President.
