NLC gives members nationwide orders to picket Labour Party secretariats

The Nigeria Labour Congress gave its state councils and political commission orders to picket Labour Party secretariats across the nation on Wednesday, intensifying the ongoing dispute with the party’s leadership.

This was said in a letter that PUNCH Online was able to receive on Wednesday and that was signed by Chris Uyot, the secretary, and Titus Amba, the head of the NLC Political Commission.

The letter was sent on March 19, 2024, a Tuesday.

The letter states that the decision follows a virtual meeting that took place on March 19, 2024, between the leadership of the NLC State Councils and State Political Committees and the NLC National Political Commission.

The letter stated in part, “That the NLC State Councils and State Political Committees should mobilize workers to picket all the State Secretariats of the Labour Party, scheduled for Wednesday, 20th March 2024, given the intransigence of the National Chairman of the Labour Party to unilaterally hold a National Convention of the Labour Party, financial rascality and contempt for the leadership of the NLC.”

The National Working Committee of the Labour Party has accused Joe Ajaero, the NLC President, of making frantic attempts to unseat Julius Abure, the Labour Party National Chairman, according to a report published by PUNCH Online on Saturday, March 16.

The accusation was made in reaction to an open letter that the Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission, the NLC’s political section, wrote on Friday.

The letter included accusations against Abure and the NWC, saying that they had proposed holding a national convention on March 27 in Umuahia, the state capital of Abia.

There were rumors that the convention’s goal was to re-elect Abure as the Labour Party’s only administrator, and there were worries about its secrecy.

The NLC’s political branch declared the convention to be unlawful, and they are calling on Abure to step down as party chairman right away.

In addition, they demand the establishment of a caretaker transition committee in order to plan a valid and inclusive national convention for the party.

The LP leadership, on the other hand, fiercely disagreed with the decision, claiming Ajaero’s purported ambition to succeed him as the party’s national chairman was the driving force behind it.

Reacting in a statement headed “Labour Party advises Joe Ajero to resign as NLC President to contest LP Chairmanship,” Obiora Ifoh, the LP’s national publicity secretary, made it apparent that the leadership of the party does not feel compelled to heed the advice of unionists who are not party members.

“The NLC State Councils and the NLC Political Committees should immediately launch a statewide mobilization of workers to join the NLC Political Commission and the Labour Party in view of the soon-to-be all-inclusive national convention of the Labour Party.

“To ensure that the picketing and mobilization are successfully executed, the NLC State Council and State Political Committees should collaborate with our civil society allies, students, traders, and professionals,” the Tuesday directive stated.