By Raphael Okhiria
The ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Edo State, has set in motion modalities aimed at resolving the dispute between Esan West local government council and tricycle and motorcycle riders.
The state commissioners for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Monday Osaigbovo, who disclosed this to The Reliance in Benin City, stated that even though his ministry was yet to be officially briefed, the intervention was a proactive step to nip the brewing crisis in the bud.
According to Hon. Osaigbovo, “my ministry has not received any official communication or information about the dispute between Esan West local government council and ANNEWATT (umbrella body of tricycle and motorcycle riders in the state), but I have heard about it informally.
“So, because of that, my ministry will step into the matter and resolve it amicably because Governor Godwin Obaseki, being a peaceful man, is always working round the clock for peace to continuously reign supreme in the state.
“Therefore, in a matter of few days, the problem between ANNEWATT and Esan West local government council will be a thing of the past. My ministry will not allowed the problem to escalate but rather resolve it in the shortest possible time”.
Recall that ANNEWATT members (tricycle and motorcycle riders) in Esan West local government council, have been having issues over alleged complicity in obtaining reflective jackets, identity cards and daily payments of welfare levy.
The Reliance gathered that tricycle and bike riders in the locality have been kicking against what they described as the astronomical increase in the cost of reflective jackets at the rate of #6,500, by the local government council as against the #4,500, it was sold by their parent body (ANNEWATT).
The riders who have labelled the actions of Esan West local government council as illegal and extortionate, insisted that the council have no rights to impose extra levies on them.
“We are uncomfortable with the new levies and the level at which the extortion is being meted out on us by the council enforcers is frightening and disturbing”, saying that “even though some of us have the approved ANNEWATT registered jackets, the council will also impose their own jackets on us.
“Also, the council people are forcing us to be paying a daily levy of #50 as welfare money and we say no to them because we are not council workers. We already have a way of taking care of our welfare needs through ANNEWATT.
“We are calling on the state government to step into the matter by calling on the Esan West local government council chairman to order because he is the only one behaving differently from the other local government council chairmen in the state.”
But as a way of sending strong messages to the government, hundreds of tricycle and motorcycle riders trooped to the streets of Ekpoma, the administrative headquarters of Esan West local government area to protest against what they described as unfair treatment from council.
They further threatened to withdraw their services should the governments at both the state and local levels fail to address the contentious issues in their favour, insisting that the council authority was taking them for granted.
The Reliance reports that the actions of the riders caused tension and gridlock in the ever busy Benin – Ekpoma expressway and other adjoining roads.
Commenting on the issues, the Edo State Coordinator of ANNEWATT, Comrade Dr. Oregbe Omorodion, who took a swipe on the local government Chairman, stated that the council chairman was hiding under the cover of promoting security to extort their members.
According to Dr. Oregbe, “ANNEWATT is being treated like an outcast. Some newly elected council chairmen are pushing us to the wall. We don’t want to go to the streets to protest because we don’t want the enemies of Edo State government to say opposition has given us money to discredit the government.
“We are supporters of the government and will not do anything to dent the image of a performing governor who is already finishing well and strong. We are calling on Mr. Governor, the law enforcement agencies to assist in calling the Esan West local government council to order”.
Comrade Oregbe who referred to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Edo State law of 2017, prohibiting Councils from collecting revenue from mechanically propelled and engagement of consultants outside the harmonised revenue collection arrangement by the Godwin Obaseki-led government stated that the Esan West chairman is clearly operating outside the law.
“They don’t have the legal rights to issue reflective jackets, stickers, ID card etc to our members as the bike riders are not members or Council staff.They belong to the informal sector.
“The State chapter of the PDP should please urgently call on the chairman and make them see bike riders as a formidable tool in helping the party improve it’s fortune at the polls.
“We have been working within the state law of 2017 and we have not experience what we are going through in the hands of this council chairmen from Edo West.”
When contacted, the chairman of Esan West local government council, Hon. Collins Aigbogun, denied having anything to do with the collection of #50 welfare levy or sale of jackets.
“The truth of the matter is that the #50 in question is being collected by the chairman of ANNEWATT in Esan West local government area. The money he is collecting does not come to the council but for members of ANNEWATT.
“What happened was that there were complaints against the zonal chairman of ANNEWATT who used to collect the welfare money and when he couldn’t give satisfactory account to his people, they begged me to help them replace him with another person and that was how another person who is their leader in the local government area was chosen.
“Similarly, the zonal chairman of ANNEWATT could not provide us with the data of tricycle and motorcycle riders in the local government and because of security concerns, we also asked the same ANNEWATT leader in the local government to take charge of the sale of jackets to the riders after properly profiling them.
“All these problems and allegations are coming up because the zonal leader (Comrade Clifford), want to continue to be in charge collections, even when he is not doing the job very well “, the chairman of Esan West local hospital council, added.
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