Coalition faults NLC president over indefinite strike threat

The trial of Kogi Central senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, on alleged cybercrime against the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio and former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, begins today at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
 
The six-count criminal charge is being coordinated by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (OAGF) and the Minister of Justice.
Civil Society Coalition for the Defence of Democracy in Nigeria (CSO-CODDIN) has faulted the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, for threatening to embark on an indefinite strike if Sen Akpoti-Uduaghan is not recalled.
  
Akpoti-Uduaghan, suspended from the Senate six months ago over alleged breach of Senate rules, was arraigned on June 30, 2025, when charges were read to her and she pleaded not guilty.
 
Justice Mohammed Umar will adjudicate over the case with the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Mohammed Abubakar, leading the prosecution for the Federal Government.
 
A Professor of Law, Roland Otaru (SAN), is expected to lead the defence team for the Kogi senator. The Senate President had, in a petition to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), complained about damages allegedly done to his reputation by Akpoti-Uduaghan on the accusation that he (Akpabio) planned to assassinate her in Kogi.
 
The allegations in the charge, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/195/2025, are rooted in cybercrime provisions and revolved around Akpoti-Uduaghan making false and injurious information via electronic means, allegedly calculated to malign, incite and endanger lives and breach public order.
 
Among the particulars of the charge are claims that Akpoti-Uduaghan, while addressing a gathering on April 4, 2025, at Ihima, Okehi Local Council of Kogi, alleged that Akpabio instructed Bello to have her assassinated.
 
Similarly, in a television interview, she allegedly repeated the narrative, suggesting a murderous conspiracy against her life by Akpabio and Bello.
 
However, following her not guilty plea and the DPPF not objecting to her bail, Justice Mohammed Umar admitted her to bail on self-recognition. The judge had also fixed September 22 for the commencement of the trial.
 
In another development, the convener of CSO-CODDIN, Olayemi Isaac, at a briefing over the weekend in Abuja, described Ajaero’s strike threat as an assault on democracy and undue interference in the judiciary’s constitutional role of adjudication.
 
Isaac stressed that the judiciary should be allowed to determine the matter without external pressure. The coalition condemned the “meddlesomeness and partisanship” of the NLC president, urging him to, instead, direct his energy towards pressing national challenges such as hunger, insecurity and the welfare of Nigerian workers.
 
It further accused Ajaero of serving as a willing tool in the hands of desperate politicians whose interests he now promotes. According to the group, if Ajaero is intent on partisan politics, he should resign his position as NLC president and openly join a political party.
  
“The matter remains before a court of competent jurisdiction and is, therefore, sub judice. We consider Ajaero’s threat to embark on an indefinite strike if Senator Natasha is not recalled as an unsavoury assault on democratic principles and undue interference in judicial processes,” the coalition stated.