The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has ordered its members across the country to mobilise for a takeover of Labour Party (LP) offices, following a Supreme Court ruling that nullified the chairmanship of Julius Abure.
NLC President, Joe Ajaero, in a statement on Wednesday, directed the LP’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to appoint an interim leadership and convene a Special National Convention in line with the party’s constitution and a consent judgment.
“To resolve the leadership vacuum in the Labour Party, the surviving institutional members of the LP NEC are expected to appoint an interim leadership… Any step outside these constitutional procedures will be an affront to the rule of law,” Ajaero stated.
The congress warned that Nigerian workers would resist any action that disregards the court’s decision, accusing Abure of defying the Supreme Court’s judgment and urging security agencies to enforce the ruling.
Ajaero also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove all symbols of Abure’s leadership from its records, stressing that failure to act would portray Nigeria as a “banana republic.”
In response, LP’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, dismissed the NLC’s directive as blackmail and threatened legal action if any party office is attacked. He argued that the NLC has no legal standing in the matter, noting that there is no trade dispute justifying any form of picketing.
“The Supreme Court did not sack the National Working Committee nor declare the leadership tenure lapsed. Ajaero and his allies are misinterpreting the court ruling,” Ifoh said.
He added that the LP’s leadership had been duly extended in 2023, with a national convention held in March 2024 to usher in the current leadership, thereby negating any claims of a leadership vacuum.
Ifoh accused Ajaero of politicising the NLC and warned that any invasion of LP offices would be met with legal consequences. The party also pledged to mobilise its members if provoked.
As tensions rise, both parties have placed security agencies on alert, setting the stage for a potential showdown over control of the Labour Party’s leadership and physical assets.
