The crisis in the Labour Party has deepened as the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has directed workers across Nigeria to mobilise and take over the 36 state offices and national secretariat of the party.
In an internal memo obtained by The PUNCH on Tuesday, Ajaero said the move became necessary following the Supreme Court judgment which nullified earlier decisions of the lower courts on the party’s leadership dispute.
He warned that the NLC would no longer tolerate what he described as the continued illegal occupation of the Labour Party by Julius Abure and his loyalists.
“Just as we warned him about a year ago, Nigerian workers and genuine members of the Labour Party will always collect what belongs to them, no matter how long a mischief lasts,” Ajaero wrote.
He added, “We urge every worker in Nigeria, all genuine members of the Labour Party, and all lovers of democracy to be on standby to once again peacefully repossess all offices of the Labour Party nationwide.”
This directive recalls the earlier invasion on March 21, 2024, when some aggrieved union members forcefully entered the LP headquarters, an act the party’s National Working Committee had described as a robbery aimed at stealing sensitive documents and cash.
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Ajaero insisted that the NLC could not stand by and watch Abure defy the judgment of the highest court in the country.
“We are putting all security agencies, especially the Nigeria Police Force and the State Security Service, on notice,” he said. “They have a constitutional duty to enforce the judgment of the Supreme Court.”
He warned that failure to do so would “present our dear country as a banana republic.”
He also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove all traces of Julius Abure and his National Working Committee from its website and official records.
“INEC must give full effect to the judgment of the Supreme Court by removing every insignia of Mr. Julius Abure and his National Working Committee from its portals,” he said.
To fill the leadership vacuum, Ajaero revealed that the surviving members of the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) would appoint an interim leadership that will organise a new, inclusive national convention.
Despite efforts, LP’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, did not respond to calls for comment. However, the party’s National Secretary, Alhaji Umar Farouk, told The PUNCH that the party would soon release an official statement.
“We will soon issue a statement on it. The threat is nothing new. We are used to their rascality,” he said.
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Meanwhile, the party is also facing internal conflict over a stakeholders’ summit scheduled for Wednesday. The Julius Abure-led NEC had earlier threatened to sanction LP’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, if they attend the summit.
But Obi’s media aide, Umar Ibrahim, and the Acting Chairman of the NLC Political Commission, Professor Theophilus Ndubuaku, said the event would go ahead as planned.
“It is not true. There is nothing like that,” Ibrahim said. “If it was postponed, I would have issued you and other media persons an official statement.”
Ndubuaku also dismissed the idea that Obi or Otti had backed down. “This is the real theatre of the absurd. If someone wrote this as a Nollywood script, everyone would say the scriptwriter is foolish,” he said.
In another twist, the LP Caucus in the House of Representatives rejected the purported removal of its leader, Hon. Afam Ogene, by the Abure-led NEC. Ogene, who was elected by his colleagues, said Abure had no authority to sack him.
Ogene stated, “The position of a caucus Leader is not based on appointment. It is chosen by peers. It is appalling that a man who is yet to account for party finances is so focused on accessing funds meant for the House of Representatives caucus.”
He accused Abure of running the party like a personal empire and ignoring the collective interests of members.
As the power struggle continues, party supporters, workers, and stakeholders await the next move. The NLC’s threats, the defiant position of Obi and Otti, and the resistance within the party’s legislative caucus all point to a stormy period ahead for the Labour Party.
Obiora Ifoh concluded, “We are watching the developments and will respond at the right time.”