NLC delegates’ conference aborted, ends in fiasco.
ABUJA, Federal Republic of Nigeria. February 12, 2015 – The 11th delegates’ conference of the Nigeria Labour Congress [NLC] ended in fiasco at the International Conference Centre as fighting and destruction of ballot boxes marred the conference.
Three individuals, Joe Ajaero who is general secretary of the Nigeria Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and Ayuba Wabba, president of Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWHUN), and Igwe Achese, National President of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers are seeking to be elected president of the NLC.
The election commenced hitch-free on Thursday [12/02/2015] morning, but became crisis-ridden when the delegates’ representing the Nigeria Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), in the course of casting ballot, ‘discovered’ that the names of some contestants had been duplicated in more than one ballot box.
Photo: The Citizens
Aliyu Dangiwa, general secretary of the NLC, said: “It is a shame… I feel disappointed. Whoever caused this has done the worst for the labour movement. Whoever was responsible for this should be traced by Nigerian workers for appropriate action. He should be made to pay for this atrocity against the labour movement.”
Igwe Achese, one of the candidates seeking to be elected president of the NLC is claiming that the current leadership deliberately orchestrated the failure of the delegates’ conference in order to extend Abdulwahed Ibrahim Omar’s tenure. Achese said: “I don’t know what to call it— mistake, manipulation or well-articulated effort to rig the election in favour of a particular candidate… Imagine a situation, where Ayuba Wabba’s name appeared on a ballot booklet twice or thrice. It’s obvious that the NLC wanted Wabba to win the election against the choice of other delegates.”
Ayuba Wabba does not agree with Achese. Wabba’s opinion is that the disruption at the delegates’ conference was created when a certain group supporting one of the other candidates realised that the outcome of the election will not favour their preferred candidate.
The National Administrative Council (NAC), second highest organ after the delegates’ conference, will have to decide what next to do.
