NLC moves to redeem image, goes to polls today

Troubled Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) will today be attempting to wriggle itself out of current crisis as it holds a fresh delegate conference in Abuja, the nation’s capital. This is after a similar conference last month ended in a scuffle, with delegates flinging chairs and upturning ballot boxes over an alleged attempt to rig an election that was meant to produce a new set of leaders for the foremost labour centre. BusinessDay learnt that over 3,000 delegates drawn from some 43 affiliate unions of the congress, representing over 25 million Nigerian workers, are expected at the Abuja Eagle Square for today’s special delegates’ conference. The main agenda is the election of national officers of the congress including president, deputy presidents, vice president, treasurer, among others, to pilot the affairs of the congress for the next four years. Two contenders for the congress’ president stand out. They are Ayuba Wabba, president of the Medical and Health Workers Union (MHWU) and Joe Ajaero, general secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE). At the centre of the storm is Abdulwaheed Omar, out- going president, who has led the NLC since 2007. His two-term tenure of four years apiece terminates this month. But Omar would be leaving behind disgruntled workers who are angry over many issues. Among which is the failure of the NLC-Kriston-Lally housing project to deliver houses to the contributors. Over N40 billion is said to have so far been contributed to the housing fund which is now a subject of investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with the principal partner from Kriston-Lally said to be at large. The scheme had targeted affordable two to four-bed room flats for the contributors.
While the issue of the failed housing project is expected, again, to come up for discussion, the major focus of this special delegate conference is the election. Attempt between February 9 and 11, 2015 to elect new leaders for the congress ended in a sad note with some delegates storming out of the venue, alleging plot to manipulate the electoral process to favour one of the presidential candidates. It was the first time in several years of its existence that the NLC would descend abysmally low, failing to elect its leaders during a delegate conference. A meeting of the Nation- al Administration Council (NAC) of the NLC subsequently convened on Thursday, February 12 to resolve the logjam had also ended in a bashing note, with Joe Ajaero, and Igwe Achese, president of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NU- PENG), staging a workout and accusing Omar of wanting to stay in office beyond March and attempting to impose Wabba against the wish of the workers. “That Omar wants to stay in power till March. Police will see workers demonstrate. He ceases to stand as the president. The meeting he’s leading is illegal,” Igwe insisted. On his part, Ajaero alleged that the organisers of the election gave out ballot papers that were not numbered to thousands of members drawn from various affiliate unions who supported him including NUPENG, NUEE, among others, with a view to disqualifying them at the end of the voting. “I just left their meeting. It is difficult to believe that such thing happened in the trade union. It was glaring that where everybody favoured somebody, but a different result was announced,” Ajaero alleged. He noted that in the ballot paper booklets given to some of the delegates who supported Ayuba Wabba, have three booklets for president and serially numbered while different ballot papers were given to his own supporters.
“Some of the ballot papers are with my people. It was an attempt to reduce the numbers of votes cast for me,” Ajaero narrated. He noted that the illegality perpetuated by the electoral body led to the pulling out of Isa Aremu, NLC vice president, adding that the affiliate unions have no trust in the entire process under the leadership of Omar. He maintained that the non- dissolution of the NLC executive under the leadership of Omar and insistence to stay in office beyond March 2015 prompted the curiosity of the delegates. While Wabba had denied the allegation of Omar wanting to manipulate the process to favour him, Peter Ozo-Eson, the general secretary of the congress, admitted there was printer error in the ballot papers as names of candidates appeared twice, a development he blamed on hasty production of ballot papers. The Omar-led leadership of the NLC is generally believed to lack the vibrancy witnessed during the tenure of his predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole, current governor of Edo State, and failed in the last eight years to impress Nigerian workers and the civil society. The congress lost the confidence of its allies in the civil society when in 2012 it unilaterally announced the suspension of the anti-deregulation protests without consulting civil society groups with whom it held talks and went into the protests. It has been lacklustre at the Labour House, Abuja, with some unimpressed members of NAC and National Executive Council (NEC) often expressing concern. To resolve the election and many crises rocking the NLC in order for it to move forward, the congress had subsequently shifted the election by one month during which period, it is expected the angry candidates and their supporters would have calmed their nerves and allow things to go smoothly during today’s special conference/election of new set of leaders for the congress for four years.