Members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday stormed the national headquarters of the Labour Party in Abuja to express their discontent with the current party leadership and the perceived betrayal of the party’s foundational principles.
The labour centre called for the resignation of the national chairman of the party, Barrister Julius Abure, whom it accused of attempts to orchestrate a convention under the cover of darkness and bypassing the agreed-upon all-inclusive approach.
The move, according to the NLC, is designed to avoid a fair contest, which it claimed that Abure is feared to lose.
NLC also said that Abure had co-opted the party for personal gain and strayed from the party’s ideology which NLC said was established to champion the cause of the working class and as an advocate for the betterment of Nigerians.
The acting general-secretary of the NLC, Comrade Ismail Bello, who led members of the congress’s political commission to the party’s office, asserted their determination to reclaim the Labour Party from what it described as the clutches of a usurper and restore it to original vision.
Bello insisted on democratic principles and inclusive participation in the convention that represents the 36 states of the federation and the FCT where every stakeholder, including workers, youths, and informal workers, has a voice.
Comrade Bello also lauded the political commission for its tireless efforts to reach this pivotal moment, where the party can be taken back by its rightful owners—the workers.
He said, “We were also thinking that he was going to organise a convention in line – with an understanding with Labour – to have an all-inclusive convention, but Abure, knowing that he can never survive an all-inclusive convention, wanted to do a convention in the night.
“We are not money people, but we have a voice, and we want a party where, without money, we can participate, and that is what Labour Party offers.
“Now it is in the hands of this usurper; he is looking for N30 million, N40 million, and so on to buy forms, excluding the people who founded the party.”
In the same vein, the secretary of the political commission, Comrade Chris Uyot, who also addressed the gathering, further accused Abure of operating the party under a “sole administrator” style, a point of contention that has been a source of internal conflict within the party.
Uyot said, “He did not discuss with the NLC or with Labour, or even with the House of Representatives who are stakeholders in the Labour Party. He did not discuss with anybody; he did not discuss with the Obidents, all the people that belong to this party or even have a stake in this party.
“So, he wants to go and have a convention where he will pick people as delegates. No, it is not done; we are not going to have a dictator in our party; it is not possible. Nigerian workers are democratic, and they support democracy.
“Nigerian workers own this party and would ensure they take hold of their party and will drive out the looters.”
