By Our Correspondent
Renowned human rights lawyer and constitutional scholar, Professor Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, has faulted the Anambra State Government’s decision to dissolve and proscribe road transport unions and associations in the state, arguing that the Commissioner for Transport lacks the constitutional authority to take such action.
Odinkalu, a former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), made the assertion in a statement posted on his verified X handle, where he described the directive as an exercise in “the impunity of the higher-ups.”
The legal scholar was reacting to a release issued by the Anambra State Commissioner for Transport, Mr Edward Ibuzor announcing the dissolution of all road transport unions and associations in the state, with a promise that the government would soon unveil “approved transport unions.”
According to Odinkalu, trade unions fall under the Exclusive Legislative List and are therefore subject to federal regulation, leaving state governments without the constitutional power to dissolve or proscribe them.
“Transport unions are trade unions. In Nigeria, General Obasanjo, as military president, took trade unions into federal regulation and preserved them in the Exclusive Legislative List. So, that is not an issue in respect of which states can exercise these kinds of powers,” he stated.
Odinkalu further argued that membership of trade unions is protected by the constitutional right to freedom of association, stressing that any restriction on that right must be backed by a valid law.
He maintained that while the Constitution permits restrictions on fundamental rights under specific circumstances, such limitations must be “prescribed by law,” adding that a commissioner’s administrative release could not lawfully achieve that objective where the state lacks legislative competence.
The constitutional lawyer also criticised the government’s plan to introduce what it described as “approved transport unions,” warning that such a move runs contrary to democratic principles.
“Not even the military succeeded in doing that. When government regiments citizens into associations created by it, it is no longer free association. It is a military arrangement. That is the antithesis of elective government,” he said.
Odinkalu’s intervention comes amid growing public debate over the legality of the Anambra State Government’s transport reforms, with legal observers expected to closely examine the constitutional issues raised by the directive.
As of the time of filing this report, the Anambra State Government had not officially responded to Odinkalu’s legal arguments.
