Labour Party’s National Chairman, Julius Abure, has leveled serious accusations against protesting members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), alleging theft of property and staff salaries during their invasion of the LP secretariat.
In a statement released by LP’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, Abure lamented the loss of millions worth of property and funds, citing the ongoing conflict between the NLC and LP leadership as the root cause.
The confrontation reached a boiling point when NLC members picketed LP secretariat nationwide, demanding Abure’s resignation.
Witnesses reported a siege on LP’s national headquarters in Abuja, with protesters chanting solidarity slogans, only to be thwarted by security forces.
Abure’s accusations painted a grim picture of the chaos, alleging that protesters forcibly entered offices, vandalized property, and absconded with money allocated for staff salaries and official use.
Calling the incident a “show of shame” and an “abuse of office,” Abure condemned the actions as detrimental to the party’s progress, accusing NLC’s leadership, under Joe Ajaero, of inciting unrest.
The statement reads in parts, “What we saw was a show of shame, a show of rascality, an abuse of office and an abuse of the law of the land. NLC under Joe Ajaero is not above the law and the law precludes Ajaero and the leadership of NLC to take law into their hands.
“Where they besieged the office, broke the fence, destroy the gates, unlawfully took possession of the secretariat and destroyed properties worth millions of naira. Properties stolen including monies meant for the payment of salaries and other official purposes. This is unfortunate. It is becoming unbecoming.
‘I must state today that the leadership of NLC under Joe Ajaero is on the part of destroying the successes we have recorded in the 2023 general election. I had expected that as a responsible trade union centre, a responsible labour leader; he should have teamed up with Labour Party to see how we can team up together to make the country better. Unfortunately and ironically too, the NLC is the one that is on the part of war against Labour Party.
“Over the past few years, NLC has been claiming ownership of Labour Party. l must state clearly that NLC is not the owner of Labour Party. The party is not owned by NLC. The law is very clear that you cannot picket an organisation where you do not have your workers.
In response to the allegations, Abure vowed to resist any attempts by NLC to undermine LP’s integrity and operations, accusing Ajaero of harboring ulterior motives in the ongoing feud.
