Ajaero, Abure disagree on cause of LP crisis
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Joe Ajaero and factional Labour Party (LP) National Chairman Julius Abure yesterday disagreed over the causes of the protracted crises that have assailed the platform.
Ajaero alleged that government agencies are actively working to destabilise the party through various means.
But the factional chairman disagreed, saying that the umbrella workers’ union is behind the LP’s woes.
Abure chided Ajaero for hypocrisy, saying that he is plotting to destabilise the party.
The LP, which came third in the 2023 presidential poll, has sunk deeper into leadership crisis as three forces – NLC, the National Working Committee (NWC), led by Abure and the National Caretaker Committee (NCC), led by Senator Esther Nenadi-Usman – are locked in supremacy battle.
The NLC, which is the acclaimed founder of the party, through its Political Committee, has insisted that Abure’s tenure as chairman had expired.
The labour centre is also threatening to take over the party secretariats in states.
Also, the NCC, backed by the lone LP Governor Alex Otti (Abia) and its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, have withdrawn recognition from Abure.
The NCC also held another stakeholders meeting yesterday.
However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) gave the nod to the Anambra State LP governorship candidate, George Moghalu, whose name was forwarded by the Abure faction to contest the November poll.
When the crisis shifted to the court, the Supreme Court ruled that it should be settled by the party because it is a party affair.
Ajaero, who reflected on the crisis during the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the party declared that government agencies are troubling the party.
He said the platform was open to defectors, saying equal opportunities would be given to them, irrespective of social status, religion, or ethnicity.
Ajaero said: “All agencies of government are involved in these destabilisation plots. We must be clear about this.
“They must be told to remove their hands from the organisation of the Workers’ Party. That is a sin. Across over 57 countries of the world, Labour Parties are functional and driven by workers’ unions.”
Ajaero said the British Trades Union Congress (TUC) has operated the Labour Party for decades, using a union office, as an example of global practice.
He queried: “So, why should Nigeria be different? Why would the government put eyes on the Labour Party here?”
Ajaero said LP is not the exclusive preserve of the NLC, adding that it is a party “formed by Congress and given to Nigerians with a clear-cut ideology.”
He emphasised the platform’s openness and commitment to inclusivity.
Ajaero also criticised attempts to use the Supreme Court to interfere in the internal affairs of the party, pointing out that the apex court had already ruled that internal crises should be resolved through mechanisms within the party.
He added: “When people talk about Supreme Court rulings, I wonder if the Supreme Court is now the one to run political parties. It is not the Supreme Court that constitutes the Labour Party”.
But, in a statement, the National Publicity Secretary of the Abure faction, Obiora Ifoh, said: “We must state clearly and categorically that if there is any person or organisation that has destabilised the Labour Party or who is working to destabilise the party, it is no other person than Joe Ajero and the NLC.”
The statement reads: “We must also state here that after the general election in 2023, the party has no issues at all, we had no faction and we had no major disagreement in the party. It was Ajero who went ahead to illegally, unprofessionally and unconstitutionally set up a so-called Transition Committee which went all over the place making noise and debasing the image of the party.
“It was the same Committee set up by Ajero that was going to INEC everyday, constituting nuisance, all in attempt to destabilise the party, mobilising people, including old and retired men, including Abdulawaheed Omar, Comrade Ejiofor, Lawson Osagie and Prof Theophilus Ndubaku, men who should be resting after many years of serving their fatherland, to go against the interest of the party.
“Nigerians all over, have asked Ajero to concentrate on his primary assignment to fight for the welfare of workers. The regulatory body in charge of the Labour Union in the Ministry of Labour has also publicly admonished Ajero to excuse himself from matters concerning politics and to face his legitimate assignment as a defender of workers rights.
“We put it on record that Ajero’s led NLC in all its ramifications has failed the Nigerian workers. Ajero is busy plotting his future political ambition and toiling with the welfare of workers.
“Over the past few years, instead of the NLC to be in support of the party, and for the party to draw strength from the Labour movement as it’s done in some Scandinavian countries such as in Brazil, Australia etc, what we found in Nigeria is a reversed approach were the NLC which ought to be a source of strength, is constituting itself as a destabilising factor for the Labour Party.
“Since 2015, this same NLC was the one that set up the Caretaker Committee that is unknown to the party constitution headed by one Salisu Mohammed. If there is any group or persons who have worked against the interest of the Labour Party, it is NLC and Joe Ajero. So he should not shift the blame to any person, he should squarely take responsibility for whatever is happening in the party today.
“We are also calling on all genuine members of the Labour Party to distance themself from the illegal activities of the Nenadi Usman group and their ploy to manipulate unsuspecting party members from parting with their hard earned money through illegal Congresses they are planning. They do not have the powers to conduct any party activity, congresses inclusive. Be warned.”
