NLC affiliate unions protest the outcome of the Edo council election.
The Nigeria Labour Congress’ Edo council’s affiliate unions, numbering no fewer than 15, have distanced themselves from the selection of Odion Olaye as council chairman.
The purported delegate conference held on March 7, 2023, according to a press release issued and made available to newsmen on Sunday in Benin, was an illegal act held in defiance of an ongoing case in the National Industrial Court in Abuja challenging the process and procedure of the conference, which violated the congress’s constitution.
“We had protested through a petition dated February 28, 2023 to the national secretariat through the General Secretary complaining about the overbearing, intimidating, and bullying attitude of the Olaye who invaded a State Executive Council meeting with thugs, disrupting the composition or setting up of the Screening Committee as well as ratifying the nomination of delegates to the state conference as provided for in Articles 11(2)(vi) and 29(4) of the Constitution,” the union stated.
“In furtherance of our determination to check or prevent an illegality from being thrust upon us, a complaint about the violation of the provision of the constitution that governs NLC state conference/election was filed at the National Industrial Court, Abuja.
The National Secretariat, President, and Secretary General of the NLC, who are parties to the lawsuit, were served with court papers, but they still went ahead with the election in defiance of the ongoing litigation.
The protesting affiliate unions added, “It became too evident that the state government meddled in the electoral process with its open support for the candidacy of the Olaye, who is a member and leader of the Peoples Democratic Party in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State, by intimidating, harassing, and threatening public sector employees with posting them to rural areas or outright dismissal if they do not declare support for Olaye.
“The PDP candidates for the House of Assembly were brought in to campaign at the state conference, which was supposed to be an exclusively NLC matter; if not for the prompt refusal of the delegates, the conference would have been turned into a PDP political rally.”
Recall that when one of the candidates for the chairmanship was disqualified, chaos broke out at the conference.
The conference was disrupted by thugs attacking delegates, and more than 90% of delegates and 15 Unions left the venue as a result of the Returning Officer’s refusal to answer questions about the disqualification.
(TNT)
