The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday stormed the national headquarters of the Labour Party (LP) in Abuja to flush out elements which the labour centre described as “rodents” trying to take over the party.
The solidarity visit, in support of the embattled national chairman of the party, Barrister Julius Abure, was led by the national president, Comrade Joseph Ajaero and other members of the national executive.
This came amid leadership crisis that is rocking the party over two court orders on the position of the national chairman of the party.
A High Court in Benin, Edo State, had given an order restraining anybody from removing Abure as party chairman, while an FCT High Court also granted an interim order restraining him from parading himself as the party chairman.
But the labour centre had on different occasions maintained that Barrister Julius Abure remained the chairman of the party which the congress said it formed to represent ideological persuasions of Nigerian workers.
At the party headquarters, Comrade Ajaero said the labour centres fathered the LP and would not abandon it to any illegal leadership.
Ajaero also stated that anyone who illegally declares himself either as chairman, secretary or anything will be tackled by workers anywhere in the country.
He said Nigerian workers should arrest such people and bring them to the labour centre.
He said, “For some time, we have not been visiting our house we decided to visit our house this afternoon after getting some information that there are some rodents trying to move into our house and we have come with some insecticide to fumigate the house from any rodents that is illegally trying to enter our property, incidentally, we didn’t see any rodents but we will comb around and see whether there is any. The LP is a child of circumstances. It began, when we lost almost all confidence in the existing political parties and we felt that the LP will be the ideal political party that will represent our ideological persuasions”.
He noted that for anybody or group to think that they can sabotage or derail their ideological move, they will resist them with the last drop of their blood.
“This was formed by the NLC and TUC, this is our party, nobody can come from the blues and declare himself as the chairman or secretary of our party without our consent, such people, if they attempt to come here next time, all their property, all their houses, their residential houses we will occupy it where ever it is located, then they will know that all that they have was given to them by Labour.
“Today, we say enough is enough, never again will any human being enter here under any guise, under any order even if we lose our leadership, we have to meet as trustees of this party to decide the next line of action. For anybody to illegally declare himself either as chairman, secretary or anything, we urge all workers anywhere in the country, where you see such people, arrest them and bring them to us”, he added.
He said the Labour Party refused to be distracted and would continue to pursue the court case until the mandate of the party is recovered.
In his remarks, Abure said, “Time has come for Nigerians to take back their country…and no amount of harassment, intimidation, nor falsehood will deter us from that pursuit, we refuse to be distracted and continue to pursue our court case till that mandate is recovered.”
