• Accuses govt agencies of destabilising opposition

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) will welcome defectors into the Labour Party (LP) fold to provide equal political opportunity to all Nigerians.

Addressing the National Executive Council (NEC) of LP in Abuja, yesterday, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, also accused government agencies of hatching plots to destabilise LP.

He said: “All agencies of government are involved in these destabilisation plots. All of us should understand it clearly. They must be told to remove their hands from the organisation of the workers’ party. That is a sin. All over the world, the Labour Party is organised and run by the workers’ unions.

“Over 57 countries of the world have functional Labour Parties in operation. The British Trade Union Congress (TUC) has been in existence for as long as one can remember. They have been using the Teachers’ Union office there for their operations for many years. So, why would Nigeria be different? Why would Nigerians pay attention to the Labour Party here? LP is not strictly for workers or NLC; it is a party formed by Congress and given to Nigerians with a clear-cut ideology.”

Ajaero noted that the Supreme Court decided that running political parties and resolving crises within is the preoccupation of the party through internal mechanisms.

“When people talk about the Supreme Court ruling, it makes me wonder if the Supreme Court would run the political parties. It is not the Supreme Court that makes up the Labour Party,” he explained.

Describing LP as a platform that offers equal political opportunity to all Nigerians irrespective of social class, religion, sect, tribe or belief, he added: “This is the only party where the son of nobody can become somebody. In the 2023 elections, you see all kinds of people winning elections on the LP platform. Did we not see an ‘Okada’rider winning elections into the National Assembly? Did we not see those that never dreamt of success in politics succeeding?”

The NLC chief, who took an indirect swipe at other political parties that charge exorbitant fees for expression of interest and nomination forms, often priced in multi-million tags, said: “In LP, we do not charge hundreds of millions to contest elections because we cannot afford it. We are contesting because we want to add value to society and provide succour to the oppressed, and not out to make money out of the misery of the people.

“Those of us from the Labour movement cannot sit down here and allow people to agree that you pay N20 million or N30 million to pick the nomination form. If we do that, we have lost our focus on having a party that is the working people’s party. So, the NLC is ever committed to making sure that our party works.”