OGHA RESOLVES CONFLICT BETWEEN MINE WORKERS, TRUCK OWNERS, AS CONSUMER PROTECTION BILL SCALES FIRST READING

Ogun State House of Assembly today passed another resolution addressing issues causing conflict between the Nigerian Union of Mine Workers and Truck Owners Association of Nigeria

resolving that the jurisdiction of the Nigerian Mine Worker falls within the Quarry and as such, it has the moral justification to ticket the purchaser of its product and that the purchaser/owner of the granite loaded in a truck is to incur the ticket fee and not the driver or the truck owner.

The resolution also affirmed that the truck owners can organize other relevant stakeholders in the granite carriage business, and are also at liberty to levy all trucks loading granite from all quarries across the State, in the same amount as the Nigerian Mine Workers in the general interest of the association.

The passage of the resolution followed the presentation of the report of the joint House Committees on Industry, Trade and Investments as well as Justice, Ethics and Public Petitions in respect of the rift between the Nigerian Union of Mine Workers and Truck Owners Association of Nigeria over Revenue Collection presented by Hon. Adebisi Oyedele, who thereafter moved for its adoption, seconded by Hon. Oluseun Adesanya and supported by the Whole House.

Majority leader Yusuf Sheriff later moved the motion converting the Committees’ recommendations into the House resolution, which was seconded by the Minority Leader Lukman Adeleye and supported by the Whole House through a unanimous voice vote.

The report partly reads, ” the joint Committee on Industry, Trade & Investment and Justice, Ethics and Public Petitions met five times to resolve issues that have been bothering on revenue collection in the mining sector of the State which is causing disharmony between the Nigerian Union of Mine Workers, Ogun State Chapter and Truck Owners Association of Nigeria”.

The report futher stated that, “the Committees painstakingly listened to the submissions and prayers of the two parties and the documents tendered to support their claims.

The Committee advised the two parties to go back and meet as well as ensure they form synergy, and come up with a Memorandum of Understanding. The parties consented to the advice of the Committee and promised to forward the MOU to the Committee in earnest”.

Meanwhile, the Assembly has called on the State Ministry of Environment and other relevant government agencies to be proactive ahead of the rainy season for prevent reoccurring incident of flooding in the State.

The Speaker, Rt. Hon. Oludaisi Elemide gave the advice while responding to the submission of Hon. Samsideen Lawal, who raised the issue of planning ahead of the rainy season in respect of the alert from meteorologists cautioning the residents of the State on the volume of rain in the weeks to come.

Such proactive measures Hon. Lawal noted would assist in preventing unnecessary havoc that could be caused by flooding.

Also at the plenary, a bill titled: H.B. No.013/ OG/ 2024- the Ogun State Consumer Protection law, 2024- a bill for a law to establish the State consumer protection agency, provide for the protection of the interest of consumers, settlement of consumer dispute and for connected purposes scaled first reading as the Deputy Clerk of the House, Barr. ( Mrs.) Funmi Adeyemi, read the short title of the bill for the first time before the State lawmakers.