The crisis rocking the Labour Party (LP) worsened on Wednesday as members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) picketed the national headquarters of the party in Abuja.
The union members led by the acting Chairman of the Political Commission of the NLC, Theophilus Ndubuaku, demanded the immediate resignation of Julius Abure. Theophilus also claimed that the planned convention of the party under the leadership of Abure was an illegal one.
During the protest, the labour union members chanted songs against Abure, accusing the party’s national chairman of embezzling funds.
However, in a swift reaction, the leadership of the Labour Party decried what it called unlawful break and entry into its national headquarters as a criminal act.
In a statement on Wednesday, National Publicity Secretary of LP, Obiora Ifoh, said the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, greed and inordinate ambition have pushed him into losing every sense of discretion and decency in his recent conduct, be it in his affairs with the workers or even the government.
The statement reads: “Ajaero’s continuous claim that NLC owns the Labour Party is not in any way supported by either the Electoral Act or the Constitution. For his information, a political party is owned by those who are card-carrying or financial members of the party. We are aware that more than 90 per cent of the members of the NLC have not met this condition and therefore, cannot claim to be the owners of the party. The constitution also provides that no organisation can own any other organisation. The NLC as an organisation can therefore not claim the ownership of the Labour Party.
He also said issues such as poor workers’ wages, high inflation and insecurity with Nigeria turning to a Hobbesian state, yet after a year of his assumption of office, Ajaero has chosen to ignore all these national challenges.
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