Nigeria Update: NLC Affiliate Unions Criticize The Results Of The Edo Council elections

The Nigeria Labour Congress’ Edo council’s affiliate unions, numbering no less 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.

Nevertheless, this election was 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.

In essence, a complaint about the infringement of the constitutional clause governing the NLC state conference/election was filed at the National Industrial Court in Abuja in furtherance of our commitment to check or prevent illegality from being imposed upon us.

However, the National Secretariat, President, and Secretary General of the NLC, who are parties to the lawsuit, were served with court papers, yet they nonetheless proceeded forward with the election in contempt 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 invited to the state conference, which was intended to be solely an NLC matter, to the campaign. If the delegates had not promptly objected, the conference would have been transformed into a PDP political rally.

When one of the candidates for the chairmanship was disqualified, as is well known, chaos broke out at the conference.

In conclusion, the refusal of the Returning Officer to entertain questions on the disqualification led to the disruption of the conference with thugs unleashing violence on delegates and everyone scampered for safety as over 90 percent of delegates and 15 Union left the venue.

Source: Punch