A former President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, has said that the Labour Party was formed and registered by the NLC as a platform for union members to exercise and defend their rights.
Naija News reports that Wabba gave the clarification amidst a major rift between the NLC and the Labour Party leadership over who owns the opposition party.
Recall that NLC members had on Wednesday picketed LP secretariats across the country.
The union is demanding the immediate resignation of the party’s National Chairman, Julius Abure, over his alleged ‘financial rascality’ and contempt of the NLC President, Joe Ajaero.
Speaking on the crisis during an interview on Channels TV on Thursday, Wabba claimed that the NLC owns the Labour Party.
He said: “First and foremost, the Labour Party was formed by the NLC, in the realisation of a clear objective in the Constitution of the NLC. Under Article 3 and Item 1, the major objective of the NLC is to promote, defend, and advance the economic, political, and social rights and well-being of Nigerian workers and pensioners.
“We own the Labour Party; it was formed under the leadership of Pascal Bafiau, as Party for Social Democracy. Under Adams, organs decided to change the name to the Labour Party, and the first Chairman is S.O.Z. Ejiofor, who later handed over to Dan Anyanwu.
“So, the essence of forming the party is to make sure that workers, pensioners, farmers, can be able to have a platform to exercise their rights, which is enshrined in Section 40 of the Constitution. The party was formed by NLC and registered by NLC. It’s like you built a house, you got a C-of-O, then you rented the apartment, so you must have an interest in how the property is managed.”