Ajaero, NLC leaders stole workers’ salaries during invasion - Abure alleges

The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Comrade Julious Abure, has accused the Joe Ajaero-led Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and those they led to besiege the party’s National Secretariat of stealing funds meant for the payment of staff salaries among other valuables during Wednesday’s attack. 

Abure who was speaking for the first time since the picketing of the party secretariat described the action of the labour leaders as a shame and act of rascality. 

This was contained in a statement signed on his behalf by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, in Abuja. 

He said, “What we saw was a show of shame, a show of rascality, an abuse of office and an abuse of the law of the land. 

“Nigeria Labour congress is subject to the law. NLC under Joe Ajaero is not above the law and the law precludes Ajaero and the leadership of NLC to take law into their hands; where they besieged the office, broke the fence, destroyed the gates, unlawfully took possession of the Secretariat and destroyed properties worth millions of naira. 

“Properties stolen including monies made for the payment of salaries and other official purposes. This is unfortunate. It is becoming unbecoming. 

“I must state today that the leadership of NLC under Joe Ajaero is on the part 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; he should have teamed up with Labour Party to see how we can team up together to make the country better.

“ Unfortunately and ironically too, the NLC is the one that is on the part of war against 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 government establishment in order to bring 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.

“Over the past few years, NLC has been claiming ownership of Labour Party. l must state clearly that NLC is not the owner of 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 the 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.

“Let me also state here that the propaganda they have been carrying around that we are planning a secret convention is totally false. 

“The NEC met April 2023 in Asaba and granted the permission that the convention must hold in one year. 

“We started planning for the Convention since then. We communicated INEC as requested by the law. We have also informed all the stakeholders including NLC.

“ I have discussed the issue with Ajaero on several occasions. NLC on their own has written to INEC on several occasions on the need to hold the convention, we are surprised that the same INEC is the one that is asking that convention should not hold again. He has ulterior motives and we will not allow him to hijack the party.”