NLC leadership impasse:  Factions continue to trade tackles

EZUGWU OBINNA

Last week when the case filled by the Comrade Ayuba Wabba-led Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) at the National Industrial Court Lagos challenging the existence of a parallel congress headed by Comrade Joe Ajero came up for hearing, the president of the court Justice Babatunde Adejumo advised the labour leaders to seek alternative out-of-court means of settling the controversy, suggesting that a court solution may create deeper misunderstanding.

But Adejumo also reminded the warring labour leaders that the court had the powers to appoint a trustee for the congress if it deemed it necessary.“It is an implied duty of the court which may warrant the court to appoint a Trustee for the NLC,” he noted. The court later adjourned further hearing until 8th October, 2015 with the hope that both factions will use the period to find amicable solutions to the problem.

The question therefore is what is the likelihood that the problem would be solved before October 8th? The fact remains that each faction has continued to dismiss any claims of legitimacy by the other. While the Ajaero group for instance, in a statement signed by Comrade Oladele Hunsu, President of Textile Workers Union, expressed commitment to any peace move at this stage, it went on to dismiss the 11th Delegate Conference of the NLC held at the Eagle Square, Abuja on March 12, 2015 which produced Wabba as “controversial.” It referred as “Special” the Delegates Conference held on March 19, 2015 at the Lagos Mainland Hotel which produced Ajaero.

The Wabba camp has at the same time maintained that the Ajaero led congress does not exist as a legitimate labour union. The President of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics, S.M Sabo who spoke to Hallmark in the aftermath of the Industrial Court’s advice insisted that the process that produced Wabba was free and fair.

“The election was free and fair, the fact that there are aggrieved members is not surprising, there is no election that you will conduct and some people will not feel aggrieved. Those who lost out would always feel aggrieved,” Sabo said.

He went on to describe the suggestion of appointing a trustee or an administrator for the NLC as unnecessary. “That would be unnecessary for anyone to appoint an administrator for the NLC, there was an election conducted according to the values of the congress. We had a very credible election, even a serving governor was part of the organizers.”

The contention of those who disagree with the outcome of the election is not however, strictly based on the organization but on a prior consensus allegedly reached by the congress’ Unity Forum on sharing formula of posts. They insist that the NLC Unity Forum had met and agreed that the private sector should produce the president of the congress and that Wabba being in the public sector was not qualified to contest in the first place.This is the position of Comrade Segun Esan who described Wabba’s mandate as a stolen mandate in a chat with Hallmark.

“They should respect the workers opinions and surrender the stolen mandate; it is just as straight forward and as clear as that. I am giving my own advice from the background of what happened before the election. What happened was that there was one forum that every affiliate union of the congress subscribes to, and that is the Unity Forum. The forum gave seven positions, including the office of the president to the private sector and nine to the public sector. Wabba for God’s sake is from the public sector, and his union was part of the decision of the Unity Forum,” Esan said.

He went on to advise that the Wabba led group should respect the wishes of the Nigerian workers and surrender the “stolen mandate,” explaining that Wabba reneged on the agreement of the union’s Unity Forum to cede the post of NLC president to the private sector. “This forum did a fantastic job by zoning seven elective positions, including the NLC presidency to the private sector and nine to the public sector.” He emphasized.

On the credibility of the group,  Esan explained that the Ajaero led NLC has the soul of the congress. “The one that is being led by Ajaero is where we have the railway, the oil and gas, the textile. In fact, 21 out of the 43 affiliate unions of the then NLC are here. That tells you which NLC has the soul of trade unionism and labour movement in Nigeria. We are the true leaders and the true representative of the Nigerian workers; not the Wabba group.”

His claims were still dismissed by Sabo who wondered why Ajaero would go and form a parallel congress.“We were all there for the NLC election; everybody was there. For anyone to now come out and say he was cheated is not being fair on the union.”

The current state of affairs once again came to the fore recently when Comrade Issa Aremu, General Secretary of the Textile Workers Union and one of the deputy presidents of the Ajaero led faction released a statement on behalf of the NLC calling on the 8th National Assembly to cut down its annual budgetary allocation of N120 billion. Wabba quickly reacted by warning that Aremu and Ajaero do not speak for the NLC.

“The attention of the National leadership of the NLC has been drawn to the serial impersonation by Comrades Joe Ajaero and Issa Aremu since they both lost their bids to be president and deputy president respectively of the NLC at the rescheduled March 14, 2015 election of the congress.”

“While we had restrained the national secretariat from publishing a disclaimer in the hope that common sense and sanity would prevail eventually on our comrades to stop this delusion, it has become clear to us and the entire labour movement that Ajaero and Aremu are determined to continue in their criminal enterprise of impersonation as president and deputy president of the NLC,” part of Wabba’s statement read.

Aremu again responded in the same token, describing the Comrade Ayuba Wabba led camp as election riggers masquerading as labour leaders.

“We hereby warn the public, employers of labour, federal and state governments to beware of sweet-heart unionists and election riggers masquerading as the leaders of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), when indeed they are agents of some sections of government,” he said in a statement.

“The self-acclaimed President of the NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba has just issued a silly unprovoked and prejudiced statement claiming we do not speak for the Congress. After he had dragged affiliate union members to court over NLC delegate’s election, Ayuba in utter disregard of court process criminally declare legitimate union leaders imposters. He certainly wanted to once again rig the court process as he criminally rigged the failed 11th delegates Conference.”

He went on to insist that he was not distracted by Wabba. “We hereby assure all our members and progressive allies in civil society that we are not distracted by sponsored attack to silence the voices of the organized labour.”

“Ayuba Wabba’s dubious statement came on the heel of the legitimate popular demand of the NLC that legislators reduce their pay to reflect the national mood for sacrifices. It is therefore self-evident that so-called President of NLC, Ayuba Wabba has once again put the NLC at the service of some government officials (which put them in office in the first instance!) instead of the working people who pay union dues to the NLC.” he said.

“Nigerians must know the difference between genuine labour leaders and labour dealers. What is at stake today in Nigeria is non-payment of legitimate earnings of workers in a number of states and some federal establishment and the indulgences of some elected officials that have collapsed the economy as rightly acknowledged by President Muhammadu Buhari. Genuine trade unionists and patriots are right to call on all elected officials at federal and states levels to face up to the challenge of governance. Only counterfeit trading unionists (not trade unionists) such as Ayuba Wabba would “disclaim” genuine voices of the working people of Nigeria.”

Going by these events, one can foresee a long standing crisis of leadership in the NLC. But interstingly, it is not the first time in the history of the congress that such is happening as Sabo explained. “Four years ago, there was a faction in the NLC but the congress reconciled after three years, it was just last year that the factions were reconciled,” he explained.

In the wake of the crisis nonetheless, some observers are also looking into the possibility of President Muhammdu Buhari appointing an administrator for the Congress as was the case in 1988 and 1994 when the military governments of General Ibrahim Babangida and General Sani Abacha appointed Michael Ogunkoya and Ahmad Gusau respectively as administrators but Sabo noted that Buhari as a civilian president lacks such powers. There is a possibility however, that the Industrial Court may consider such optionas it had warned if both factions fail to reconcile.