The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has accused political office holders of sacrificing governance on the altar of partisan politics ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The NLC said leaders who should be working to alleviate suffering in the land are instead consumed by power games, leaving workers and ordinary Nigerians to bear the brunt of economic hardship and burgeoning insecurity that their inadequate policies foist on the citizens.

President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, stated this at the 21st Rain School in Uyo, emphasising that the present political space guarantees holding public office holders accountable.

Ajaero cautions against ‘siddon look’ syndrome, saying: “If we do not occupy, defend, and expand the democratic space, we risk losing the very freedoms that generations of workers fought and bled for. If we do not rise and hold the hands of each other across the diverse unions and the various divides, we may end up having a nation where the forces of authoritarianism hold sway.”

He said the threats against the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in 2023, Peter Obi, and his supporters were a stark reminder of how quickly democratic safeguards are being eroded in the nation, with grave consequences for workers.

For the NLC, Ajaero said, it was an urgent call to defend the democratic space that allows the union to fight for workers’ rights.

According to him: “If we allow these encroachments to go unchallenged, we risk normalising a reality where the government picks and chooses who enjoys constitutional rights. We must stand firm, not just for Nigerian workers whose livelihood depends on the freedom to demand justice without fear but for those who seek to contest for power in Nigeria.

“How can you hold them to account when the rule of law is heavily compromised? How can you hold them to account when the principles of separation of powers in a democracy are consciously undermined? When the legislature becomes an extension of the executive and the judiciary speaks the voice of the executive; democracy is kept in abeyance and becomes dysfunctional to the detriment of checks and balances and national progress.”

He urged workers to point out a new pathway to operate effectively in an environment where the expression of contrary opinions is criminalised.

The NLC chief urged them to frown at the idea of criminalising protests by retired police officers who are currently facing harrowing experiences at the hands of the state.

According to him, a cornerstone of democracy is being outlawed, even as workers are excluded from critical decisions, saying that policies on taxes, pensions, concessions, and privatisation are imposed without workers’ input.

“If we do not see this as a collective struggle and also make an attempt to build the necessary synergies instead of thinking that this is the struggle of the national leadership, we may be in eternal jeopardy. If we continue slumbering, we may wake up to find out that this prevailing greed has turned our nation into Somalia,” he said.