Members of the Ughelli North chapter of the Union of Tippers and Quarry Employers of Nigeria (UTQUEN) in Delta State have accused the Local Government Chairman, Jaro Egbo, of breach of contract after allegedly collecting N4 million and a large bottle of Campari.
The union described the chairman’s actions as “corrupt and heartless” and appealed to Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to intervene, urging him to ensure that Egbo stops using his office and the name of the Secretary to the State Government for extortion or intimidation of innocent residents.
Speaking over the weekend, Peace Ufuoma Ubini, chairman of UTQUEN in Ughelli North, alleged that in addition to the union’s regular purchase of tickets, the council chairman had forced the union to pay a monthly bribe of N300,000. According to Ubini, the funds were transferred through a Keystone Bank account (No. 6019030740) under the name of Ikama Reuben, a known loyalist of the chairman.
Ubini said, “UTQUEN and National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW were at the Industrial Court over the operations of her members, and the case was decided in favour of UTQUEN in 2022 in a suit marked as NICN/AWK/25/2018. NURTW, in 2025 decided to appeal the judgment, which is yet to be adjudicated.
“Following the dispute, the Ughelli North local government council chairman, Jaro Egbo invited both parties in 2024, and in that meeting, he resolved that both parties should be working in order to avert a crisis. It got to a stage where we were invited to the Ughelli Area Command and the then Area Commander asked both parties to be working separately since the judgment of the Industrial Court was not appealed. Till this very moment, we have been working harmoniously and our UTQUEN members on a regular basis. We buy all tickets, stickers, and haulages from the state and local government, respectively.
“As if that was not enough, the council chairman called us and told us that we should be paying him the sum of N300,000 personally as his own cut and as the governor of Ughelli North. And we agreed for peace to reign, and we started paying him that money right from October 2024 through a Keystone Bank account number 6019030740 belonging to one of his loyalists called Ikama Reuben.
“The N300,000 was paid up to July 2025 before we had financial challenges following an accident by one of our members, which resulted in the death of two people.
“Despite our financial challenges, the council chairman told us that the State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, has asked him to scrap UTQUEN and we should come and see him. On September 18, 2025, the Union’s PRO, Patrick Onobrorhie, and Task Force chairman went to see him at his house, and on behalf of the union, the sum of N1 million cash and a bottle of big Campari were given to him just to appease him.
“But we were surprised when he invited us to his office on October 2, 2025, to inform us that Governor Oborevwori and the SSG had ordered him to scrap UTQUEN, and as the chairman of Ughelli North, nobody can do anything to him.”
“He told us that the judgment of the court in our possession cannot stop his decision to scrap UTQUEN, and he has done that, and nobody can do him anything. It is surprising that as a lawyer, he is saying he will not obey the court judgement, even when the Industrial court judgement is with him, he is compelling us to go and beg the NURTW we secured judgement against,” Ubini stated.
Speaking on the matter, Patrick Onobrorhie, Public Relations Officer of the union, told SaharaReporters that the latest action by the council chairman stemmed from the union’s two-month delay in paying the N300,000 monthly bribe.
He added that even after attempting to appease Egbo with N1 million in cash and a large bottle of Campari, the chairman still threatened to penalise the union.
He said, “As at September when he called us and said the Governor and SSG do not want UTQUEN scrapped, we explained to him that one of our tippers had an accident which resulted in the killing of two persons and because of that we were unable to meet up to remit to him the two months outstanding but he does not want to hear us out.
“The union mandated me and my other colleague to visit him at home, and we gave him the sum of N1 million and a big bottle of Campari. Just after that, on October 1, at about 3:00 pm, he invited us to appear in his office the next day, and when we got there, we were surprised to meet NURTW members in his office.
“In his office, he told us that the Governor and SSG directed him to scrap UTQUEN from Ughelli North, except NURTW, and that failure to adhere to his orders would result in our trucks/tippers being taken from Ughelli to another place to work.”
“We do not want to take the laws into our own hands, and we are aware that the Governor and SSG cannot send such a message or give such orders. We are foreseeing a future crisis over the council chairman’s orders because if NURTW members stop us while carrying out our duties, it will not go down well with us, and that is why we are calling for the attention of the state government and Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to intervene in this matter,” the Union’s PRO appealed.
The union, however, presented financial transaction receipts purportedly showing payments made to the council chairman through his alleged loyalist. They also submitted copies of both old and new tickets they had purchased to date as evidence.
When contacted for comment, Ughelli North Council Chairman Jaro Egbo denied any knowledge of the alleged N300,000 bribe or any payments made through his associates.
He further claimed that the union had refused to purchase tickets in the same manner as their NURTW counterparts.
“All these are coming simply because I told them that henceforth they must be buying tickets to boost the IGR of the council, and that is the offence I have committed,” he said.
