Politics
Labour Party Kicks As NLC Meets On Julius Abure’s Fate On Monday
Today, Monday, April 8, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)stakeholders will convene to address the ongoing leadership crisis within the Labour Party and discuss the potential reinstatement of Julius Abure as the party’s National Chairman.
According to reliable sources, the unionists are suggesting the formation of a caretaker committee to assume control of the opposition party.
Reports said that all pertinent stakeholders and members of the NLC Political Commission have been invited to attend the meeting, which is scheduled to take place in Abuja today.
“That meeting may seal the fate of Abure as arrangements have been concluded to set up a caretaker committee to take over the leadership of the party,” a source told The PUNCH.
The recent turn of events follows an unsuccessful bid by the Board of Trustees of the party to seize control from Abure and assume leadership of the LP.
A group of retired workers, organized under the Lagos Assembly of Labour Veterans and Trade Unionists, recently staged a protest demanding the immediate resignation of the party chairman.
Likewise, the retirees urged NLC President Joe Ajaero to step down from his position due to his failure to safeguard their interests and his handling of the party’s leadership tussle.
However, reporters could not obtain a statement from NLC spokesperson Benson Upah at the time of reporting.
Shortly after news of the NLC meeting spread, the Labour Party leadership opposed it, labeling it an unauthorized gathering of ‘drama boys.’
The opposition party has disapproved of the proposed gathering, as mentioned in a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh.
The statement, titled ‘Proposed NLC Stakeholders meeting a jamboree by drama boys, illegal and outcome a nullity,’ expresses the party’s disapproval. Ifoh further urged law enforcement agencies to intervene and prevent the gathering from taking place, emphasizing the need to take action against the unionists before their planned activities result in a disturbance to the public.
He said, “It has come to the knowledge of the leadership of the Labour Party of a letter of invitation trending in some sections of the media, purportedly written by some desperate characters in the Nigeria Labour Congress, inviting some Nigerians to an illegal stakeholders meeting scheduled to hold on Monday in Abuja, wherein they propose to appoint a caretaker committee for the Labour Party.
“This meeting being organised by some drama boys and attention-seeking personalities in the NLC is illegal as we have not authorised it and it is not supported by any law in the land and, therefore, its outcome, a nullity. We are, therefore, calling on all genuine members of the party to disregard and shun the meeting.
“A few days ago, the Federal Government raised the electricity tariff to about 300 per cent and the NLC has neither responded to it nor called out its members to protest the increment. But it is quick to convene an unlawful meeting of disgruntled members who are not even party members.
“We are calling on the law enforcement agencies to rise to the occasion and abort this gathering which may likely degenerate into a public nuisance. NLC does not have any proprietary right over the Labour Party and, therefore, cannot continue to lay claim to its ownership.”
