Edo NLC pickets LP secretariat, party kicks
In response to Julius Abure, the national chairman of the party, allegedly showing disrespect for the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Edo State Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress picketed the state Labour Party secretariat on Thursday at Ogbelaka Street, Off Sakponba Road, Benin.
Suleiman Abubakar, the state vice chairman of the NLC, gave more justifications for the picketing, claiming Abure was handling the party’s affairs like his own.
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The state council of the Nigeria Labour Congress intends to picket all LP state secretariats, according to a March 19, 2024, memo signed by NLC Political Commission Chairperson Titus Amba and Secretary Chris Uyot.
According to Abubakar, since the Labour Party is a part of the NLC, the NLC need to be involved in all decisions made by the LP.
He cautioned that Abure would not be permitted to force any candidate on the NLC to serve as national chairperson.
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“We were instructed to picket the Labour Party offices throughout the 36 states of the federation,” he stated. Since we were unable to organize our members, we did not picket on Wednesday as instructed by the NLC political commission.
Picketing is being done because Julius Abure, the National Chairman, is treating the party like his own. Everyone ought to be escorted along. He wants to choose and force a candidate on us, and he has declared the national convention. It is not appropriate to pick and impose people at this moment.
“The way forward is for him to go to the national body and resolve his difference with other officials. He must learn to play by the rule of the game. We are not being sponsored. Nobody is sponsoring us,” he said.
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Read also: NLC gives members nationwide orders to picket Labour Party secretariats
Sam Uropka, the state Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, responded by claiming that the NLC has disregarded its fundamental duty to Nigerian laborers and is chasing shadows while laborers are starving to death and dealing with other difficulties.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress has abandoned its primary responsibility,” he declared. They are meant to be standing up for the rights of workers to a higher standard of living. They are battling a political party that is not in power and have left all of these things behind. Employees are enduring hardship. Consider the cost of food and the current minimum wage. Many people nowadays are unable to afford transportation to work. The NLC is fighting a political party, therefore they aren’t looking into it.
“How many of them are card-carrying members of the Labour Party? For you to query what is happening in a political party, you must be a card-carrying member and also discharge your financial responsibility to the party. Many of them are in PDP, and others are in APC. So, why are they concerned with the events in the Labour Party?”
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