Uber, Bolt Drivers Seek Nigeria Government Intervention Over Unfavourable State Policies

E-hailing drivers under the aegis of the Amalgamated Union of App-based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON), have called for a federal government framework to regulate the business across the country.

The South-West Vice-President of AUATON, Mr Kolawole Aina, made this appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Aina said that e-hailing drivers under its platform include Uber, Bolt, and Indrive, among others.

He said that the union had long aimed for a Federal regulatory framework that would supersede state regulations.

Unfavourable state regulations
The AUATON vice-president noted that the e-hailing drivers are currently in 26 states across the nation, including the Federal Capital Territory.

According to Aina, about 15 or 17 of these states have regulatory frameworks at their own discretion and it has never favoured drivers of e-hailing rides.

“So, we as a national union are looking at a national or a federal regulatory framework that will actually centre around all the stakeholders.

“All the stakeholders including the government, the app company, the drivers, and even the passengers will have their activities in relation to e-hailing rides regulated.

“It is only the drivers that think about how the states and the app companies are going to make money, and at the end of it, the drivers and riders bear all the burden,’’ he said.

Reducing multiple taxations
According to him, the national framework will help all stakeholders to benefit and reduce the multiple taxation imposed on drivers.

Aina explained that the demand for a national regulatory framework was the reason behind the conference hosted by AUATON in 2024.
He added that a national regulatory framework could also reduce the rate of kidnapping of drivers, especially if profiling of passengers is introduced the same way drivers are profiled.
“One of the challenges we face is that we have not found government approachable to listen to our demands. We are taxpayers and contribute to the economy, so we need to be listened to,” he said.

The vice president, however, called for better relationships between the app companies, governments and drivers for seamless business operations in the country.

What you should know
AUATON is a registered trade union under the Ministry of Labour and Employment and an affiliate member of the Nigeria Labour Congress.

Its members include e-hailing or online transport drivers, app-based bike and bicycle food delivery and courier delivery workers (dispatch), app-based bike passenger workers, and app-based bus passenger workers in the online sub-sector of Nigeria’s transport industry.
The drivers became unionised in 2023 when the federal government through a letter from the Trade Union Services, and Industrial Relations Department of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment approved the registration of the Union.
According to its founding Secretary-General, Ibrahim Ayoade, the struggle to unionize app-based drivers started in 2016 when Uber slashed the income of drivers to 40% without consulting them or even informing them about it.