The True Story of the LCTS-Yutong Motors Agreement -By Peters Adeyemi             Sun Feb 27,2011

I have kept quiet over the orchestrated ‘controversy’ surrounding the agreement between the management of Labour City Transport Service (LCTS) and Urban Development Bank of Nigeria (UDBN) Plc, on the one hand and Yutong Motors Ltd on the other for this long obviously because of the ongoing electioneering into offices of Congress thinking that as we move along, the truth will eventually come and those behind these layers of misinformation will realise their recklessness of playing politics, not only with the integrity of their fellow comrades but the NLC as an organisation and the Labour Movement in general.

That there are observable misinformation and falsehood in the attempt of Congress to procure buses is not what surprises me, but rather the unfortunate and shocking aspect of the entire issue is the now well-known denial of NLC President, Comrade Abdulwahed Omar, claiming not to know anything about the process. This is far from the truth.

I could vividly recall that before the July 2010 organ meetings in Akure, Comrade President directed the reconstitution of Commissions, Committees and Boards membership of Congress. This directive was carried out and at the Akure meetings of the organs, that is, NAC, CWC and NEC, the Commissions, Committees and Boards were reconstituted.

I could also recall vividly too, and this is captured in the minutes of the NAC, that prior to the presentation of the list of those to serve in the LCTS Board, Comrade President informed NAC of an ongoing effort by the NLC to reposition the LCTS by accessing a loan from the UBDN. He revealed that as at the time Congress was meeting, NLC was having talks with Yutong Motors with a view to providing buses and that the sum of N10 billion has been provided by the Federal Government through the UBDN for Public Mass Transit Revolving Fund Scheme.

Comrade President equally informed NEC that out of N10 billion, Organised Labour has been allocated N5 billion and that the NLC will be getting N4 billion while Trade Union Congress will get N1 billion.

Also in the same meeting, Comrade President informed us that two directors of UDBN have been nominated to serve in the LCTS Board to ensure the smooth serviceability of the loan. He also informed NAC that as LCTS was going to take off with this loan facility, he and the General Secretary were going to serve in the board.

After this explanation by Comrade President, the list of the board members with myself as the chairperson was ratified. He made this similar presentation to the CWC and NEC meeting in Akure. (See details in the minutes of Akure organ meetings).

After this ratification by NEC, the Board was inaugurated on Thursday, August 12, 2010 at the Conference Hall of the Labour House, Abuja.

What comes out clearly in the President’s explanations at Akure was that the deal was already in progress even before the LCTS board was constituted because the President himself had urged the General Secretary to use his influence as a member of the Board of UDBN to ensure that Congress gets N4 billion loan facility.

From the ongoing, it is clear and indisputable that the President and the General Secretary of Congress while acting on behalf of NLC had been, prior to the Akure NEC and by implication before the constitution of the Board of LCTS, having discussions with Yutong Motors.

I wish to explicitly state that I have never had any meetings with any of these establishments or been briefed.

I am aware that prior to the loan from UBDN, Congress was negotiating for loan from other banks, namely; Afri Bank Plc, First Bank Plc and Union Bank Plc, all of which did not sail through.

I am also aware that Comrade President, the General Secretary of Congress and Comrade Hakeem Bashorun, (Congress Internal Auditor) as a member of staff of Union Bank, travelled to China in February 2009 to hold discussions with Yutong Motors with a view to buying buses from the company on behalf of the NLC to be guaranteed by the Union Bank.

From the above, it could be seen that the Congress President had been actively involved in the process to buy Yutong buses long before I became the Chairman of LCTS board.

Comrade President’s complicity in the entire conspiracy of blackmail against me can be seen from the fact that he had visited Yutong Motors in China even before the new board under me was set up. It is interesting to note that the trip by the LCTS Board took place between September 3-4, 2010 while the agreement was signed on September 6, 2010.

Another conflicting element too is the fact that, while Comrade President now claims to be in the dark about the agreement, prior to the trip to China, he spoke to journalists with certainty that LCTS was acquiring buses from China. He was quoted by two reputable national newspapers, Vanguard and Daily Independent stating what is clearly the opposite of his current stand.

In the Vanguard of Thursday, September 3, 2010, page 32, in the story titled: “NLC partners Chinese firm on Labour City Transport Service,” Comrade President, was quoted thus:

“Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has revealed its plans to partner with a Chinese firm to resuscitate and re-energise Labour City Transport Service, LCTS, to meet the objectives it was set up for.

“President of NLC, Comrade Abdulwahed Omar who disclosed this, said   while more buses would be acquired, professionals would be brought in to

operate and manage the transportation scheme when the new buses arrive.

‘ “He said: We are bringing in between 50 to 150 new buses of different sizes. It is not going to be business as usual because it involves huge amount of money.’

“Comrade Omar explained that towards this thinking, the NLC President and the General Secretary would only act as ex-officio in the company’s board which would be controlled by the Directors from Urban Development Bank who raised the money.”

Similarly, Daily Independent of September 3, 2010, page 9, in its story; “NLC set to resuscitate labour transport service,” reported:

“President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Abdulwaheed Omar, has disclosed that the Congress would partner with a Chinese firm to resuscitate its labour City Transport Service (LCTS) currently in comatose.

“Omar made the disclosure while briefing newsmen of plans to resuscitate the transport service to boost the financial position of the Congress through the injection of more funds into it.

“He said: “The NLC would bring competent hands to manage the transportation scheme when the new buses arrive. We are bringing in between 50 to 150 new buses of different sizes. It is not going to be business as usual because it involves huge amount of money.”

He said the NLC President and its General Secretary would act as ex-officio members on the board of the company which would be controlled by the directors from Urban Development Bank from where the capital is being raised.”

This is a further corroboration that Comrade President clearly has some ulterior motives for claiming being kept in the dark. Inferring from these revelations, my conclusions on assuming the chairmanship of the board is that having done the initial negotiations, Comrade President and the General Secretary only invited me to witness the consummation of the deal during the signing of the agreement that they have worked on with the Urban Development Bank without my involvement whatsoever.

Paragraph 3 of a letter written from the UDBN and signed by the MD/CEO clearly revealed that the process began before I came into the picture. I will quote the paragraph in full with my emphasis on the portion that contradicts the claims of Comrade President.

“We are of the opinion that the agreement signed on 6 September, 2010 represents tremendous value for money for both the LCTS and the PMTF Scheme. Right from the onset, UDBN was adamant on ensuring the very best result for all parties, a commitment highlighted by the deployment of a team of three of the bank’s officers (including one Executive Director and the Chairman) to make the journey to China for due diligence and execution of the agreement. Prior to the trip to China for the execution of the agreement, UDBN in consultation with the management of LCTS underwent several due diligence exercises on Yutong Buses and products including a 3-day mission to Ghana in August 2010.”

 For me, it therefore appears very, very strange since the President seems to be claiming, in other words, that he had been operating in a trance all this time in the transactions even before I appeared on the LCTS-Yutong scene. If he has any reservations or doubts about any aspect of the transaction or agreement, it would have been more honourable for him to have immediately raised objection to signing any paper. As a trade unionist, as an Ex-officio of the board and above all as the President of Congress, it looks outrageous that Comrade President would append his signature to the document of a transaction that he has no knowledge of.

The President did not only sign the agreement, he participated animatedly in addressing grey areas before signatures were appended. I remember very well that throughout the engagement, the President was very excited and anxiously signed the agreement smiling from ear to ear.

It is therefore painfully astonishing that on our return from China, President claimed that he was not in the picture and that he was dragged to China. Because he claimed to be unaware of the entire process, the NAC then said that the entire process did not follow due process and that it should be put on hold. The NAC then directed the Finance Committee to look into the whole issue and report back.

While I am not against the probing of the entire transaction, right from the onset, I wish to state that I am totally not comfortable with the Finance Committee acting as the umpire in this case for the following reasons:

1.      The President who is an interested party in this case is the chairman of the Committee. This means that there is a deliberate plot by the President to indict some people including me by all means and for whatever reason, perhaps personal interests or ambition.

2.      Apart from the above, the committee is made up of the treasurer who is the immediate chairperson of the LCTS Board and will certainly be predisposed to being biased. He would have preferred that this project happen during his tenure and has since vowed to kill the project by discrediting the process.

3.      Thirdly, Comrade Peter Akpatason is another member of the Finance Committee who will not be disposed to being fair on the matter. He was also a onetime Chairperson of the LCTS Board who has always grumbled over the manner in which he his tenure was abruptly ended. He will therefore do anything that will lead to discrediting the transaction.

4.      The General Secretary who is also a member of the Finance Committee is also an interested party. The only person that is neutral is Comrade Olusegun Rotimi, the HOD of the Finance Department.

For the record, it is important to state that on arrival from China, we got information that Globe Motors felt aggrieved about the attempt by the LCTS to procure the buses from China. According to Globe Motors, the attempt by LCTS to procure buses directly from China through UDBN breaches the agreement they have already entered with the bank which grants them the right to be the sole suppliers of all the mass transit buses to be bought for the scheme.

Globe Motors had sought for an injunction against the LCTS transaction with Yutong and UDBN which they have obtained. This has therefore put on hold everything about the transaction until the injunction is vacated. But the good news is that no kobo has yet been paid to Yutong Motors, no buses have been supplied.

Interestingly enough and basically the reason why I am very apprehensive of the ongoing enquiry is the fact that while the Finance Committee appears to be in the process of rounding up its work, it has so far refused to talk to me being the Chairperson of the LCTS Board. Secondly, the Committee has refused the request of the UDBN management to talk to any organ of Congress. The Committee has instead engaged itself to what I may call monologue.

I find this very strange and totally unacceptable more so against the backdrop of the fact that while they had not concluded their so-called findings, they quickly rushed to report to the last NAC meeting findings that have fundamental flaws.

According to the inconclusive report submitted to the NAC, the Committee said that taking the loan poses ideological problems to Congress. A number of questions need to be answered here:

-          Where is the ideology when Comrade President directed that two directors of UDBN should serve on the Board of LCTS?

-          Where is the ideology when the Comrade President and the General Secretary were discussing with Yutong Motors?

-          Where is the ideology when the President addressed the press?

-          Where is the ideology when the President briefed the organs of Congress in Akure even before the LCTS Board was reconstituted?

-          Where is the ideology when the President asked the General Secretary to discuss with UDBN to negotiate for N4 billion out of N5 billion?

-          In the whole of this process, where and when was the Comrade President kept in the dark?

According to the Finance Committee’s inconclusive report, it will be difficult for us to fight deregulation if we take the loan. The question I again need to be answered is:

-          When the NLC collected over a hundred buses free from President Obasanjo’ government in 2003, did that stop us from fighting his serial increments of prices of petroleum products?

-          How then will a loan transaction which we will pay back with interest, and which is not a gift like the ones Congress took from the Obasanjo’s government translate to stifling our ideological activism? This is obviously diversionary.

Also astonishing was the claim by the committee of non-technical viability when the committee obviously had not made any attempt to seek the technical opinion from anywhere. It is obvious that the committee does not possess the technical competence to make that judgement.

The committee equally asserted that due process was not followed. The question then is whether the organs were not briefed before the trip? And even if the President had not done that in Akure organ meetings, will that have been the responsibility of the President or a Deputy President?

Finally, I think the intention of the committee is very obvious. It is a plot to get the agreement nullified. Beyond that, the ultimate target is to use that as an excuse to recommend that the principal actors involved in the transaction be punished. Since the President who is the arrowhead in this transaction is the Chairperson of the Finance Committee, it will then be recommended that the General Secretary and myself should then be sanctioned.

It is clear that the Finance Committee’s hidden agenda is to dissolve the LCTS Board and seek the approval of the Pre-Conference NEC to stop me from contesting as Deputy President. This is clearly what they are stage-managing.

If anyone needs to be sanctioned in this case, it is NLC President, Abdulwaheed Umar. He participated in the entire process right from the beginning and therefore any attempt by him to shift the blame is completely unacceptable. He is occupying an office that demands responsibility and he should rise up to assume responsibility for his actions.

I therefore demand that an independent committee be set up to look into every aspect of the transaction by making enquiries from all those involved. The President cannot be a judge in a matter that he stands accused.

............

Comrade Peters Adeyemi

Deputy President, NLC

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