The Deputy National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Ayo Olorunfemi, has said that the party does not belong to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), but the Nigerian workers.
Olorunfemi stated this on Wednesday while fielding questions on Arise Television’s news programme.
The statement comes amidst the protest by NLC members against the LP’s planned National Convention set for March 27.
“The Labour Party belongs to Nigerian workers, not the NLC, and the earlier we understood this, the better. We have TUC, we have NLC, we even have professional bodies. We have informal sectors of the economy, people who are not unionised at all; they are all owners of the Labour Party.
“For the NLC to want to lay sole claim to the ownership of the Labour Party is absurd. The NLC cannot lay sole claim to the ownership of the Labour Party,” he stated.
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However, speaking in the same interview, the Acting National Chairman of the NLC Political Commission, Theophilus Ndubuaku, disagreed with Olorunfemi, maintaining that the NLC registered the party in 2003, therefore, giving it ownership rights.
“In 2018, there was a court judgment by Justice Kolawole that stated clearly that the Labour Party belongs to the NLC.
“The NLC registered the Labour Party in 2003. The problem is that they are used to flouting, disregarding court orders, disregarding agreements,” Ndubuaku said.
In another development, the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, has cautioned the president of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, against using the Congress’ platform, funds, and resources to pursue his ambition of either becoming the president of Nigeria in 2027 or the governor of Imo State.
Abure made this assertion in Asaba, Delta State, in response 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.
