The Lagos Division of the National Industrial Court has declared that the Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria (TOAN) is a registered body with the authority to carry out tricycle transport operations in Lagos State.
This is the import of the signed Certified True Copy (CTC) of the court judgment delivered on December 11, 2025, by Hon. Justice E. J. Essien in a suit filed by the Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria (TOAN) against the Lagos State Government, the State Attorney-General, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) over the unlawful control of tricycle transport operations in the state.
Justice Essien, in his judgment, held that under the law, TOAN has the right to operate and organize itself independently for the purpose of carrying out tricycle transport operations and for protecting the welfare, rights, and interests of tricycle operators in Lagos State.
In the originating summons filed on August 24, 2021, TOAN sought the court’s interpretation of relevant provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and the Trade Union Act on whether the state government, the Commissioner for Transport, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, and the incorporated trustees of the Tricycle Owners and Drivers Association of Lagos State (TODAL) had the power to authorize NURTW and RTEAN to operate, organize under, merge or amalgamate with, or affiliate to NURTW and RTEAN for the purpose of tricycle operations, for which TOAN was registered as a trade union.
After four years of legal proceedings, the court declared that the defendants lacked the power to authorize NURTW and RTEAN to operate, organize under, merge or amalgamate with, or affiliate to NURTW and RTEAN for the purpose of tricycle operations and the protection of the welfare, rights, and interests of tricycle owners and operators, for which TOAN was registered as a trade union.
By the judgment, the court also declared the Commissioner’s letters dated January 22, 2020, and April 12, 2021, which discriminatorily disapproved the lawful tricycle operations of TOAN without lawful cause while permitting the operations of NURTW and RTEAN, as unconstitutional, unlawful, oppressive, an unfair labour practice, and ultra vires the powers of the Lagos State Government, the Commissioner for Transport, and the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.
The court further ordered the state government, the Commissioner for Transport, and the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, as well as their agents, officers, and privies, to recognize and allow TOAN and its members and officers to operate freely in Lagos State without undue interference, inhibition, constraint, hindrance, or frustration, for as long as TOAN’s certificate of registration as a trade union subsists and has not been cancelled by the Registrar of Trade Unions.
Consequently, the court awarded the sum of ₦5 million (Five Million Naira) as aggravated damages in favour of TOAN for the disapproval, disruption, interference, and inhibition of its lawful operations in Lagos State.
