By National Record
A DAMNING petition to the Minister of Labour and Employment has exposed a brewing internal crisis in the Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers Union of Nigeria (RATTAWU), accusing its National President, Comrade (Dr) Kabir Garba Tsanni, of “brazen disregard” for the union’s constitution, “dictatorial conduct,” and a calculated plot to hijack the upcoming National Delegates Conference (NDC) scheduled for July 14–16 in Gombe State.
The petition, filed by Comrade (Dr) Opakiriba Erekosima, a presidential aspirant and long-time union leader, paints a picture of a union in turmoil, with Comrade Tsanni allegedly side-lining statutory organs and extant democratic processes by consolidating power in himself.
The petition, obtained by National Record from an impeccable source in RATTAWU, and laden with references to constitutional breaches and annexed evidence, demands urgent ministerial intervention to avert “chaos, pandemonium, and catastrophic bedlam.”
“Sir, predicated on the foregoing grievances, we most humbly pray your intervention, pursuant to your Statutory powers to cause immediate action to be taken to salvage RATTAWU. We pray as follows;
“An interim measure handing over the Leadership of the Union to a pro -tempore Advisory Council to run the affairs, including convoking the National Delegates’ Conference of the Union pending the decision of the Honourable Minister.
“The referral of the ensuing dispute to either a Conciliator, Industrial Arbitration Panel or Board of Inquiry (pursuant to Sections 8, 9 and 33 of the Trade Dispute Act) to resolve the attendant issues within 14 days from receipt of this letter,” Comrade Erekosima prays.
Coup Against Delegates
The petition hinges on Comrade Tsanni’s alleged violation of Rule 7(iii) of the RATTAWU Constitution, which mandates that the NDC’s date and venue be decided by the National Executive Council (NEC) or the previous delegates’ conference.
Rather than threading the lawful constitutional path, Comrade Tsanni is alleged to have “peremptorily” chosen Gombe State without NEC consultation or approval; a move Comrade Erekosima calls “ultra vires and an affront on members’ rights.”
Erekosima further alleges a sinister motive for the choice of Gombe, being a remote location, coupled with Tsanni’s refusal to disclose the exact venue of the NDC.
According to the petitioner, these are clear tactics to disenfranchise delegates, particularly those from the southern part of country against the fact that the last NDC was held in Zamfara State. “The President’s actions are a clear attempt to skew delegate attendance in favour of his cronies,” Erekosima asserts.
Caretaker Committees and ‘Illegal Dissolutions’
Another explosive accusation against Tsanni is his alleged dissolution of elected state councils and their replacement with handpicked caretaker committees. Erekosima cites Plateau State, where the General Secretary unilaterally appointed Comrade Francis Atsen Izang to oversee elections; a move she described as starkly afoul of the Union’s Constitution.
“It is however most worrisome and disconcerting to note that National President, in sinister preparation for the election of his preferred nominees, has embarked on flagrant illegality, by dissolving validly elected State Council leaderships (whose tenures are constitutionally determined) and appointing caretaker committees, in a bid to influence the composition of the delegates to attend the NDC.
“In places where the President would not appoint caretaker committees, he appoints his cronies to go there alone to conduct elections with a predetermined outcome. A recent case of this brazen infraction occurred in Plateau State Council, where the General Secretary issued a letter appointing solely the National Publicity Secretary of the Union, Comrade Francis Atsen Izang, to oversee the conduct of the State Council elections. This again runs starkly afoul of the provisions of the Union’s Constitution. I have annexed a copy of the letter dated 29th May 2025 by the GS for your perusal.
“Sir, the National President, upon receiving the list of delegates to attend the forthcoming NDC, has embarked on quickly rushing to hold state council elections in some states where the delegates’ list submitted, starkly appear to be persons not favourable to the political ambitions of his preferred candidates for the next national elections,” Erekosima stressed. (Her emphasis)
She also alleged that Tsanni has kept all south-eastern states under “caretaker rule” to handpick delegates loyal to his faction. “It is salient to point that, at this juncture, the President has kept all the states in the South-Eastern part of the Country under Caretaker rule so as to ensure the delegates coming from those areas are handpicked according to his whims and caprices. Other elected officers are coaxed and harangued to work according to his dictates or face removal,” Erekosima writes, questioning how a president who “illegally dissolves councils” can oversee a free and fair election. (Her emphasis)
Electoral Sabotage: Withheld Candidate Lists and CVs
According to the petition, the union’s 2025 Electoral Guidelines mandate the publication of candidates’ CVs at least one month before elections, yet, as of June 24, 2025 when the petition was written, the National Secretariat was alleged to have failed to comply; a “deliberate mischief” that Erekosima says casts doubt on the NDC’s credibility.
“We herein crave your indulgence to step in forthwith to forestall chaos, law suits and needless bickering over the conduct of the forthcoming NDC cum National elections,” Erekosima pleads with the Minister of Labour and Employment.
Usurping Central Working Committee Powers
The petition also alleged that Rule 7(xiii) of the RATTAWU Constitution grants the Central Working Committee (CWC) authority to resolve delegate election disputes. Erekosima alleges that contrary to this, Tsanni and the Secretariat have bypassed the CWC, directly intervening in state chapters to manipulate outcomes.
Describing this as “unconscionable hijack,” Erekosima cited as evidence a June 17 letter from the General Secretary to Lagos, Rivers, Osun, and FCT councils that bypassed the CWC.
Efoorts to speak to Comrade Tsanni failed as he failed to respond to National Record’s enquiry call and WhatsApp message on the petition and the allegations.
Meanwhile, National Record notes that the petition, surfacing barely two weeks to RATTAWU’s National Delegates Conference, underscores a deepening rift, indicating that the union, a critical stakeholder in Nigeria’s media industry, is, in the words of Erekosima, “on the brink” and “only [a] swift intervention can save it.”
