The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) sitting in Lagos has directed the Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Mustapha Adekunle, and the union’s Secretary, Usman Teslim, to personally appear before the court on October 15 to respond to contempt allegations arising from an earlier judgment.
Justice Isaac Essien issued the order after dismissing a preliminary objection filed by the respondents, who had challenged the validity of the contempt proceedings.
The judge ruled that the court had lawfully approved substituted service of the required contempt notices and found that the union officials were fully aware of the proceedings because they had actively participated through their legal representatives.
According to the court, the respondents could not rely on claims of non-personal service after filing processes in the matter. Justice Essien described the objection as an attempt to place technical procedures above the interests of justice.
The court consequently dismissed the objection and ordered the respondents to pay N2 million in costs to the Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria (TOAN), the successful party in the case.
In the substantive contempt application, the court imposed an additional N3 million in costs against the NURTW officials and directed them to personally explain why they should not be committed to prison for allegedly failing to obey the court’s earlier orders.
The contempt proceedings stem from allegations that despite the court’s December 2025 judgment, officials of the NURTW allegedly continued issuing daily, weekly and security tickets to commercial tricycle operators across Lagos State.
They were also accused of continuing to organise commercial tricycle operations in violation of the court’s directives recognising TOAN as an independent trade union.
In its December 2025 judgment, the National Industrial Court ordered the Lagos State Government and other parties to recognise TOAN as an independent trade union under the Trade Unions Act.
The judgment affected several parties, including the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, the Tricycle Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria (TOOAN), the Tricycle Owners and Drivers Association of Lagos State (TODAL), the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN).
Justice Essien held that the Lagos State Government had no legal authority to compel TOAN to operate under or merge with either the NURTW or RTEAN.
The court further ordered that TOAN and its members be allowed to carry out their activities without interference and restrained the defendants from obstructing the association’s lawful operations.
The earlier judgment also awarded N5 million in damages against the Lagos State Government and the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice for interfering with TOAN’s activities.
Before issuing the latest orders, the court dismissed separate applications filed by several judgment debtors seeking a stay of execution of the December 2025 decision.
Justice Essien ruled that there was no valid appeal before the Court of Appeal capable of justifying a suspension of the judgment and held that the applicants failed to satisfy the legal requirements for a stay of execution.
He subsequently ordered the affected judgment debtors to pay N1 million each in costs to TOAN.
The judge also criticised the filing of fresh court documents after proceedings had already been reserved for ruling, describing the practice as inconsistent with proper court procedure and professional conduct.
