From Cyriacus Nnaji, Lagos
The Chairman of the South-West Zone of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) Samuel Olugbenga Agbede
has urged members of the Union to remain calm and loyal to zonal leadership as amicable solution is being sought amid an ongoing dispute with the National President, Dr Musa Mohammed.
Speaking at a press conference which took place in Lagos on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, Agbede, called on the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi, to urgently intervene over allegations of maladministration, abuse of office, and misappropriation of union funds levelled against the national president.
He urged Mohammed to desist from interfering in the affairs of southwest zone, stating that the declaration of a trade dispute, as provided for in the association’s constitution and the Labour Act, confers temporary autonomy on the zone pending the resolution of the crisis.
Agbede disclosed that the zone had formally petitioned the minister, arguing that Mohammed should step aside to allow for an impartial investigation, insisting that he cannot preside over matters in which he is directly implicated.
For Agbede, the grievances were initially presented to the National Executive Council (NEC) at a meeting, but the council failed to act on their report, prompting the escalation of the matter to the minister.
The zonal chair stated, “The situation in Southwest right now calls for caution. Sometime in January, this year. The Southwest discovered some maladministration and misuse of power, embezzlement of union funds, on the side of the embattled national president of the union, Dr Musa Mohammed. We held a meeting and we conveyed our grievances to the NEC, but when the report of the meeting got there, NEC gave it no audience. Thus, the Southwest declared trade dispute and by implication of that we are able to stand on our own and administer ourselves pending the determination of the issue which led to the trade dispute declaration.
“We wrote a petition to the Minister of Labour and Productivity, we were invited and we made a case that the embattled Musa Mohammed should step aside because he cannot be a judge in his case. Though the meeting with the Minister is still ongoing, he is now trying to pokenose into the affairs of the Southwest by issuing illegal letters, by our declaration of trade dispute, we told him we are no longer with him pending the resolution of our demands. So if it takes100 years we will continue to administer ourselves because it is enshrined in our constitution and Labour Act.
“Temporary independence is granted pending the determination of the case. Until the issue is resolved, we remain independent in the Southwest.
“In fact there was no free and fair election for him. He took everybody to Army Barracks in Abuja, and only his loyalists were permitted to enter the venue for the Delegate Conference. It has never happened before. He was the first that took the union to such venue for conference. The case is still on the table of the Minister of Labour and Productivity, but coming to the Southwest to meddle into our affairs, despite the declaration of the trade dispute, we are acting on that very soon.”
On his part, the Southwest Secretary of RTEAN, Tiwalade Akingbade, alleged that the president was trying to be a despot, but the Southwest leadership could not tolerate that.
Akingbade also urged members to remain calm, saying RTEAN members don’t fight because “he who lives in a glass house doesn’t throw stones.”
“We have our internal mechanism to resolve conflict. We have forwarded our complaints and letter to the appropriate quarters. We have forwarded our letter to the minister, we were called to a meeting around mid-March, another meeting was rescheduled for 31st of March, but unfortunately we were unable to have another meeting since then. We were to have another meeting last week, but due to the Workers’ Day it couldn’t hold. We are expected to be in Abuja again this week for another meeting. We don’t have two RTEAN camps in Southwest. We are doing is collective decision of leaders in Southwest,” he added.
