Kelvin Bowoto
On Thursday, the Edo State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) picketed the Labour Party’s (LP) Secretariat in Benin City over allegations of financial misconduct and contempt for the union by the party’s National Chairman, Barr. Julius Abure.
Comrade Suleiman Abubakar, NLC Vice Chairman in the state, attributed the exercise to Abure’s running of the party as if it were his own personal company.
Comrade Abubakar maintained that because the Labour Party is affiliated with the NLC, the NLC should be involved in all decisions, and he cautioned that Abure would not be able to impose any candidate as national chairman on them.
“We were instructed to picket the Labour Party headquarters in all 36 states of the Federation. We were supposed to picket on Wednesday, as authorized by the NLC political commission, but we were unable to assemble our members.
“The reason is that the National Chairman, Barr. Julius Abure, is running the party as if it were his personal property. Everyone should be carried along. He has announced the national convention and intends to handpick and impose a candidate on us. “This is not the time to handpick and impose on anybody,” Abubakar stated.
On the way forward, the Edo NLC’s labor leader urged Abure to resolve his disagreement with the union’s national body.
“He must learn to follow the rules of the game. “We are not being sponsored; nobody is sponsoring us,” he stated.
The Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party in the State, Comrade Sam Uropka, however, disagreed with the decision, claiming that the NLC has abandoned its core responsibility to Nigerian workers to now chase shadows while people are dying of hunger and facing other difficulties affecting workers.
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“The Nigeria Labour Congress has abandoned its core responsibility. They are meant to be fighting for the rights of workers to make a better livelihood. They have abandoned all of these things and are battling a political party that is not in power. Workers are suffering. Consider the current minimum wage and the cost of food items.
“Many people today are unable to afford transportation to their workplaces. The NLC is not looking into this, but they are fighting a political party. “How many of them have Labour Party membership cards?” he asked.
A directive signed by Comrades Titus Amba and Chris Uyot, Chairperson and Secretary of the NLC Political Commission, respectively, and dated March 19, 2024, directed that all Labour Party state secretariats be picketed.
The circular states, “We bring you fraternal greetings from the Nigeria Labour Congress.” Following a meeting of the NLC National Political Commission and the leadership of the NLC State Councils and State Political Committees held virtually on March 19, 2024, the following resolution was reached:
“That, given the National Chairman of the Labour Party’s intransigence in unilaterally holding a National Convention of the Labour Party, financial misconduct, and contempt for the leadership of the NLC, the NLC State Councils and State Political Committees should mobilize workers to picket the entire State Secretariat of the Labour Party on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.
“In view of the soon-to-be-held all-inclusive national convention of the Labour Party, the NLC State Councils and the NLC Political Committees should immediately embark on a statewide mobilization of workers to join the NLC Political Commission and the Labour Party,” the letter said.
It also urged the NLC State Council and State Political Committees to collaborate with its civil society partners, students, traders, and professionals to ensure that the picketing and mobilization are carried out successfully.
Techrectory with Agency Report.
