You don’t own us! LP tells NLC …angry over picketing of it’s national secretariat

• Photo: NLC members sealing off LP’s National Headquarters*

The leadership of the Labour Party (LP) has described the Wednesday’s picketing and sealing off of its national headquarters by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC ) as a criminal act, saying that claims that LP is owned by NLC is not correct.

The party also deployed the President of the NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero and said his “greed and inordinate ambition have pushed him into losing every sense of discretion and decency in his recent conducts, be it in his affairs with the workers or even the government.”

In a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, the party wondered “how Ajaero would lead a band of lawless persons who are known to have partisan interests in other major political parties such as the PDP and APC against a recognized independent political party.”

Obiora added that “Ajaero’s continuous claim that NLC owns the Labour Party is not in any way supported by either the Electoral Act or the Constitution. For his information, a political party is owned by those who are card-carrying or financial members of the party. We are aware that more than 90 percent of the members of the NLC have not met this condition and therefore cannot claim to be the owners of the party. The constitution also provides that no organisation can own any other organisation. The NLC as an organisation can therefore not claim the ownership of the Labour Party.

“Today, Nigeria is witnessing the worst economic strangulation ever in the history of Nigeria. Issues such as poor workers’ wages, high inflation and  insecurity with Nigeria turning to a  hobbesian state, yet after a year of his assumption of office, Ajaero has chosen to ignore all these national challenges.

“It would interest you to know that Ajaero’s NLC is yet to successfully picket any Federal Government establishment. His attempt to extend his rascality to Imo state was met with a higher and brutal force. Unfortunately for us in the Labour Party we do not command any force unlike the NLC that is now encouraging militancy within its ranks.

“By its own constitution, the NLC cannot even call for a picketing of any establishment without a directive of its NEC but what we saw was a political committee acting out an illegal script by Ajaero. The committee has no legal right to call an action in the nature of picketing or breaking and entering into a political party where most of them are not even members.  

“The present NLC leadership is politicized. It has left its primary responsibilities of defending Nigerian workers and has delved deeply into partisan politics and this is a bad omen for the working community. We have earlier advised Ajaero to emulate leadership of Ayuba Waba, Olaleye Quadri and Festus Osifo who had or currently passing through a similar route and still maintain a working relationship with the party.

“We are however reviewing today’s criminal actions and disruption of activities in our national headquarters  with our legal department for further actions.

“What we saw today appears to be a personal vendetta against the national chairman, Julius Abure who they called several unprintable names including labeling him a thief. We are certainly going to take legal action on matters of libel.”