Osun NURTW Crisis: Oyewale Takes Office, Declares Peace as Govt, Police Maintain Stance

The newly inaugurated Caretaker Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) , Osun State Council, Alhaji Kazeem Oyewale, popularly known as Ashiri Eniba, has officially assumed office and assured residents that peace has returned to motor parks across the state, announcing the resumption of union activities following the resolution of its leadership crisis. The state council had been embroiled in a leadership dispute between the Oyewale faction and the faction led by Nurudeen Wakili, popularly known as Alowonle. The crisis resulted in protests, violence, disruption of commercial activities and the suspension of union operations in motor parks by local government chairmen across the state.

The crisis escalated on July 20, 2026, when members of the Oyewale faction staged a protest in Osogbo, alleging that the dominant faction prevented their vehicles from accessing a motor park. The protest degenerated into violent clashes, with gunshots causing panic among residents, and three security operatives sustained gunshot injuries during the confrontation. The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), comprising chairmen elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, subsequently announced the suspension of public transport union activities in motor parks across the state and appointed Oyewale as chairman of the NURTW caretaker committee. He was later inaugurated by the national leadership of the union at its headquarters in Garki, Abuja, despite the Osun State Government‘s opposition to the move.

Speaking after assuming office on Saturday, Oyewale said the newly constituted state executive members were recently invited to Abuja, where they were inaugurated to oversee the affairs of the Osun State Council. He appealed to residents not to associate members of the union with violence, describing commercial drivers as law-abiding citizens committed to their livelihoods. Oyewale also urged the police to conclude investigations into the killings of some union members during the crisis and called on members who had stayed away to return to the union. According to him, leadership changes are normal in every organisation, which is why they were invited to Abuja for their inauguration to officially take charge of the affairs of the Osun State Council. He assured the people of Osun State that commercial drivers are not hoodlums but responsible family men, expressing hope that the police would complete their investigations into the killings recorded during the crisis and ensure justice is served.

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Oyewale further stated that their doors remain open to every member because they are one family, appealing to those who have stayed away to return to the union. He also urged the Osun State Government to work with them, stressing that they are ready to cooperate with all stakeholders because they are an independent union. He assured residents that peace has returned to motor parks and all issues have been resolved, commending the Nigeria Police Force for its role in restoring peace and encouraging officers to remain committed to maintaining security. He added that commercial activities would fully resume across garages on Monday.

Also speaking, the union’s Interim Secretary and Group 2 Chairman for Ife Federal Constituency, Ayinde Mutiu, said normal activities had resumed across motor parks following the resolution of the leadership dispute. He appealed to members to embrace peace and avoid actions capable of disrupting public order, stressing that the NURTW remains one united family despite the recent challenges.

The national leadership of the NURTW, led by President Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, has backed the caretaker committee, insisting that no state governor has the legal authority to suspend the union’s activities. Represented by Deputy National President Aliyu Issa Ore, MC Oluomo argued that the NURTW is a statutory body established by law and operates independently of state governments, pointing out that the union had successfully challenged similar actions by state governments in court in the past. Ore explained that the caretaker committee was constituted to provide leadership for the union in Osun ahead of the forthcoming governorship election, citing the union’s Memorandum of Understanding with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the transportation of election materials.

However, the Osun State Government has maintained its opposition to Oyewale’s leadership. In a statement, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Oluomo Alimi, clarified that the government only suspended union activities in motor parks pending the restoration of peace and did not dissolve the Alowonle-led executive. The government reaffirmed that Alowonle and his executive remain the only recognised leadership of the union and directed security agencies to remove Oyewale and his supporters from motor parks across the state. The Osun State Government further argued that the move by ALGON to appoint a caretaker committee was illegal and unconstitutional, noting that Governor Ademola Adeleke did not at any point remove the NURTW leadership. The government submitted that the tenure of the Alowonle executive is yet to lapse and that attempting to impose a suspect in violent crimes as state chairman is an affront to the law.

The Osun State Police Command has also confirmed the arrest of a suspect in connection with the July 20 clash, with Commissioner of Police Ibrahim Gotan disclosing that operatives recovered six expended cartridges, four vehicles, four motorcycles, military camouflage and suspected criminal charms from the suspects. Meanwhile, the Osun State APC has criticised Governor Adeleke’s directive suspending NURTW activities, describing the order as unconstitutional and beyond the governor’s powers. The party cited a Court of Appeal judgment involving the Oyo State Government and the NURTW, where the appellate court declared Governor Seyi Makinde’s 2019 suspension of the union’s activities unlawful and unconstitutional.

Osun NURTW Crisis: Oyewale Takes Office, Declares Peace as Govt, Police Maintain Stance

Ex-IG Okiro: FG’s Decision to Scrap Anti-Terror Squad Birthed Boko Haram Insurgency

• The former police chief, who turned 77 last week, says he had monitored Mohammed Yusuf and arrested him multiple times before the sect struck in 2009

Former Inspector-General of Police, Sir Mike Mbama Okiro, has blamed the Federal Government’s decision to dismantle the Police Anti-Terrorist Squad shortly after his retirement in 2009 for the emergence and spread of the Boko Haram insurgency, describing the move as a costly policy error that denied Nigeria the opportunity to stop terrorism before it escalated into a national crisis.

Okiro, who served as IGP between June 1, 2007, and July 24, 2009, and recently marked his 77th birthday, made this revelation in an interview. He said the anti-terrorism unit he established in November 2007 was abandoned following criticism from some quarters, leaving the country vulnerable to the insurgency that erupted weeks after his retirement.

The former police chief, who also served as Chairman of the Police Service Commission from May 2013 to April 2018, said the Anti-Terrorist Squad was created to detect and neutralise emerging terrorist threats. He disclosed that officers of the squad were trained in Israel, Egypt, Sudan and South Africa, countries with known histories of combating terrorism.

Okiro recalled that he had trained the squad operationally to reduce costs and also established a Police Anti-Terrorist Squad Training School in Rivers State, where experts from outside were brought in to teach operatives. He expressed regret that the school no longer exists.

The former IGP said opposition to the initiative came from individuals who falsely alleged that the squad was designed to target members of a particular religion. He recalled that some newspapers wrote editorials against the initiative, arguing at the time that terrorism was not a threat in Nigeria.

“Some people came up and alleged that Okiro has created the anti-terrorist squad to gather members of a particular religion and shoot them as terrorists. Two newspapers wrote editorials on that, claiming there is no terrorism in Nigeria, that I created ATS to give Nigeria a bad name to the outside world,” Okiro said.

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He explained that despite publicly defending the initiative, the Federal Government declined to approve funds required to equip the squad with operational vehicles, communication gadgets and other logistics. However, he still deployed units to Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and Maiduguri, but some state governors requested the withdrawal of the operatives from their states.

“I retired July 24, 2009. By August to September, Boko Haram had struck in Maiduguri. Since then Nigeria has known no peace. If government had insisted on the ATS and equipped it, the story would have been different today,” Okiro said.

The former police boss disclosed that security agencies had been monitoring Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf before the insurgency erupted, adding that he personally arrested him multiple times.

“I monitored Mohammed Yusuf from Yobe to Maiduguri. I arrested him a couple of times. If government had taken action then, the story would have been different. It is late now. They have spread all over Nigeria,” he stated.

Okiro lamented that Nigeria has not made significant progress in addressing insecurity, stressing that the problem has been with the nation for decades. He cited his experience as Commissioner of Police in Lagos when the Oodua People’s Congress had taken over security because the police had failed.

“We are not making progress. The situation had been bad right from time. We are all Nigerians, let us face facts. The situation has been like this, likewise the economic situation,” Okiro said.

He attributed persistent security challenges to inadequate funding, poor manpower, and obsolete equipment across security agencies. According to him, the police, as the lead agency for internal security, cannot effectively combat crime without modern surveillance technology, reliable communication systems, drones, and other advanced security infrastructure.

“The agencies should be well funded, have manpower, have equipment. The world is so advanced now that you can send drones to fight crime and insecurity, it’s no longer physical security like we have in those days. Nigerians are very intelligent. If they are given what they require they will excel,” he said.

On the 2027 general elections, Okiro urged security agencies to remain neutral and avoid partisanship, warning that interference in the electoral process beyond maintaining law and order could undermine the credibility of the polls.

Reflecting on his policing career, the 77-year-old former Inspector-General recounted how he prevented a violent attack on a son of the late Head of State General Sani Abacha during a high-profile court appearance in Lagos by secretly relocating the trial venue from Igbosere to Ikeja. He described the strategy as one of the defining moments of his career. At the time, the OPC had gathered at Igbosere with cutlasses, sticks, broken bottles and jerry cans of petrol, vowing to kill Abacha’s son.

Okiro, who holds a law degree, also narrated how he reluctantly joined the police after hating the profession as a student union leader at the University of Ibadan. He said he picked the police from six job offers after praying to God for guidance. His father, who wanted him to join the Rivers State Civil Service, initially opposed his decision but later prayed for him.

Ex-IG Okiro: FG’s Decision to Scrap Anti-Terror Squad Birthed Boko Haram Insurgency

The Sun

Is Nigeria’s Electricity Tariff Going Up? FG Finally Breaks Silence

The Federal Government has moved to shut down widespread reports of an impending electricity tariff increase, with the Presidency insisting that no rate hike is planned for any category of grid consumers and that subsidies for lower-usage households will continue. In an official statement issued on Saturday via X, the Special Adviser to the President on Power Infrastructure in the Office of the Vice President, Sadiq Wanka, said recent media coverage had misrepresented remarks he made at an industry event in Lagos on July 22, 2026. Wanka clarified that his presentation at the Asharami Square 3.0 conference focused on investment opportunities in Nigeria’s power sector and the Federal Government’s long-term reform agenda, not an announcement of a tariff increase.

Wanka stated emphatically that there is no planned tariff hike for any grid consumer across any service band and that the government remains committed to protecting vulnerable households through continued tariff support. The presidential aide explained that his comments reaffirmed the tariff policy direction already set out in the National Integrated Electricity Policy, which was finalised in December 2024 and approved by the Federal Executive Council in May 2025. He described it as a long-standing, publicly available policy of gradually transitioning to cost-reflective tariffs, a framework that has already been implemented for Band A electricity consumers who receive at least 20 hours of power daily.

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For all other consumer bands, Wanka stressed that there is no plan to remove subsidies. Instead, the government is exploring how to deliver value and support more efficiently. At the heart of this effort is the Power Consumer Assistance Fund (PCAF), a mechanism established under the Electricity Act 2023 to channel targeted subsidies directly to vulnerable consumers through their electricity accounts or other identity-linked means. The initiative is expected to improve transparency in subsidy administration, ensure support reaches intended beneficiaries, and strengthen investor confidence in Nigeria’s electricity sector.

The clarification comes amid ongoing public concern over electricity costs, particularly following a recent report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission revealing that the Federal Government incurred a subsidy obligation of N358.32 billion in the first quarter of 2026. According to the report, the government continues to finance more than half of the industry’s generation costs by freezing end-user tariffs at July 2024 rates. NERC noted that the open-ended nature of the current subsidy regime exposes the government to potentially rising financial obligations due to volumetric risk and changes in generation costs.

Wanka further acknowledged the vital role journalists play in policy communication, stating that the administration of President Bola Tinubu supports platforms like Asharami Square that aim to deepen journalists’ capacity to convey the full context of complex policy discussions to the public. The government counts on the continued support of the media in this important national duty, the statement added.

Is Nigeria’s Electricity Tariff Going Up? FG Finally Breaks Silence