Julius Abure, the national chairman of the Labour Party, LP, has warned the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Joe Ajaero, concerning the crisis between the union and the party.
Abure warned that Ajaero should not use the NLC platform, funds, and resources to pursue his ambition of either becoming the president of Nigeria in 2027 or the governor of Imo State.
The chairman issued this warning in Asaba, Delta State, while responding to the recent shutdown at the Labour Party’s national headquarters by protesting NLC members who demanded his immediate removal as national chairman of the party.
The LP chairman criticised the picketing of the party’s office as politically motivated, describing it as a display of rascality and an abuse of office and the laws of the land.
“I must state today that the leadership of NLC under Joe Ajaero is on the path of destroying the successes we have recorded in the 2023 general election.
“I had expected that, as a responsible trade union centre, a responsible labour leader number one should have teamed up with the Labour Party to see how we can team up together to make the country better.
“Unfortunately and ironically too, NLC is the one that is on the path of war against the Labour Party. I must state clearly that Ajaero, as NLC President, has not been able to organise a successful strike action. Not even a single protest or even picketing a government establishment to bring the government to accede to the numerous requests of workers.
“As we speak, there are unfair labour practices meted out to workers by several organisations in the country. I have not seen Joe Ajaero go to such organisations to picket them,” Abure stated.
The Labour Party chairman also clarified that Joe Ajaero is not a registered member of the party, and neither is the party owned by the NLC, contrary to the union’s claims.
“Over the past few years, NLC has been claiming ownership of the Labour Party. I must state clearly that NLC is not the owner of the Labour Party. The party is not owned by NLC.
“The law is very clear that you cannot picket an organisation where you do not have your workers. We are not the employers of NLC and they don’t have a legitimate reason to picket our office.
“We have no trade union dispute with NLC; there is no notice issued to us that we have a trade union dispute with NLC. This is clearly an abuse of office and abuse of the laws of the land,” Abure added.