Amidst conflicting judgements from courts, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, on Monday, led a delegation of workers’ unions to reinstate the embattled national chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure.
In doing so, NLC President, Joe Ajaero confirmed that the bright fortune of the party was attracting impostors who are bent on crippling the party by all means, a move he said will be resisted by the working class.
Ajaero also threatened that Nigerian workers might be compelled to occupy the residential homes of suspected impostors, some of whom orchestrated the suspension of Abure as national chairman of the party.
Recall that a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, had ordered Abure to stop parading himself as the national chairman of the party a week after a ward in the Edo State chapter of the party suspended him over alleged anti-party activities.
Shortly after the court order, the party’s national vice chairman, Lamido Bashir Apapa, who had been accused of being sponsored by the opposition parties, took over the party in an acting capacity.
But in another twist, a High Court in Benin gave a counterorder, restraining anybody from removing the embattled party chairman from his office.
Ajaero, who was accompanied by the NLC General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, TUC leaders and other labour leaders as well as hundreds of workers, to the secretariat, said as trustees of the party, nobody is mandated to occupy any position in the party without their consent.
Ajaero said: “Today, we have come to say enough is enough. Never again will those imposters enter here, under any guise, under any order. Even if we lose our leadership, we have to meet as trustees of this Labour Party to decide the next line of action.
“For anybody to illegally declare himself either as chairman, secretary or whatever, we urge all workers anywhere in the country, where you see such people, arrest them and bring them to us. The hour has come.”
He also added: “As the fastest-growing party, you can see that envy, jealousy is creeping in. The people that are pioneering this, to sabotage us, let’s announce here that we know your fathers. If you continue this way, we will go after your fathers.”