Nobody with a franchise in Nigeria is unfamiliar with the name MC Oluomo. Especially not with the drama that was the 2023 Gubernatorial election in Lagos state.
From gun violence to thuggery and vandalism, MC Oluomo seems to be the thread that ties it all together in Lagos state.
Who is MC Oluomo?
Born on March 14, 1975, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, is an indigene of Kwara State. He is currently the Chairman of the Lagos Parks And Garages Management Committee and the former Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
The infamous transport worker attended Afolabi Primary School in Oshodi and Olu Efon Primary School in Abeokuta for his elementary education before dropping out.
MC Oluomo is a polygamist who is married to 3 women, Alhaja Madinat Adunni Akinsanya, Temitope Adunni Akinsanya, and Aisha Ajoke Akinsanya. He has 9 children.
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MC Oluomo and NURTW
Before joining the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Oluomo worked as a bus conductor and public bus driver. While working for the union, he advanced through the ranks and eventually took the chairmanship of the Oshodi chapter.
Oluomo was a member of the 18-man caretaker committee established to oversee the business of NURTW, Lagos. This was after Tajudeen Agbede, the chairman of the union’s Lagos chapter, was elected the organization’s national vice president.
Oluomo encountered pushback from members who thought he would impose himself as the union chairman while serving on the caretaker committee. However, he rose to the position of union head during the rebellion.
His influence increased as a result, making him a force to be reckoned with.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the former governor of Lagos state, was one of the prominent politicians he allied himself with using his power.
The NURTW members who work under Oluomo’s leadership have been accused of using him as a vehicle for election thuggery in the state. The organization’s national body disbanded the Lagos chapter’s administrative council in April 2022 and charged Oluomo with misconduct, insubordination, and provocation.
In response, MC Oluomo announced the state chapter’s departure from membership in the NURTW national organization. And with the support of the state administration, he was able to have NURTW operations in the state outlawed.
The Lagos Parks and Garages Management Committee was subsequently established by the state government, with Oluomo serving as its inaugural chairman under the direction of Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
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MC Oluomo and the 2023 Elections
A few days before the Lagos state gubernatorial elections, on the 18th of March 2023, a video went viral on social media showing MC Oluomo telling the Igbo people living in Lagos to support the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) or stay at home.
Oluomo enraged the vivacious men in the room by speaking in Yoruba so that those who would not ‘understand’ his plea would be persuaded to do so. A veiled incitement to violence, to put it simply.
Idowu Owohunwa, the Lagos State police commissioner, declared that the police were looking into the threat after it was denounced by the general public.
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In an immediate response to criticism, MC Oluomo said he was merely making jokes with a certain “Iya Chukwudi” and denied threatening Igbos in Lagos.
On election day, however, it became clear for all to see, that even if there was an ‘Iya Chukwudi’, there was no joke in the statement.
MC Oluomo has also been caught on camera threatening people who oppose him in politics. He is accused of having threatened voters at an Oshodi polling place on February 25 to either vote for the APC or leave during the presidential election.
At that time, the police also vowed to look into the footage and take proper action if necessary. No action has been taken.
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MC Oluomo, NURTW, and Nigerian Politics
In 2018, when APC’s Gboyega Oyetola won the governorship election in Osun State, MC Oluomo and his NURTW men supported grassroots mobilization there.
Bukola Saraki, the then-senate president and the political patriarch of Kwara State, was warned by MC Oluomo shortly after Oyetola’s election that he and his colleagues would be performing the same operation to win Kwara back for the APC.
APC gained the entire Kwara state political system a year later.
This is not the first time MC Oluomo has been involved in Nigeria’s politics, neither is it the first record of his influence on the country’s choice of leaders especially when it comes to APC
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After his appointment as the chairman of NURTW in 2019, Oluomo in an Instagram post thanked the leaders of his party, the APC, for supporting him to achieve his dream.
He said “I cannot but also thank my father, my leader, my mentor His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for his love and support towards my emergence as the NURTW chairman. He is truly a father and a father indeed. My appreciation also goes to His Excellency, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the executive governor of Lagos State for creating a conducive environment (sic) and for encouraging a peaceful transition of the NURTW leadership mantle in Lagos State.”
This shows a bias towards Tinubu and APC in general. Could this be because of the staunch support Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has for him or something deeper?
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On a final note
To some, he is a political thug, and to others, he is a philanthropist. However, we know to one particular man he is loyal.
Love him or hate him, MC Oluomo is deeply woven into the fabric of Nigerian politics. Many have tried to get him out via petitions, reports for his arrest, and other viable means but each time efforts seem abortive.
One can only hope that in the coming years, truth prevails and justice is served accordingly.
