Protesting members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have barricaded the main entrance of the National Headquarters of Labour Party (LP) in Abuja today Wednesday, demanding the immediate sack of the National Chairman, Comrade Julius Abure.
The largely peaceful protesters, who were heard singing solidarity songs while calling for an end to “Abure’s reign of corruption tyranny,” were however refused entry into the building by armed regular Policemen on duty.
The NLC leadership had accused Abure of planning to hold an “illegal convention” in order to perpetrate his chairmanship or in the alternative appoint cronies to act on his behalf.
The Joe Ajaero-led NLC and the House of Representatives Caucus of the LP had taken issue with Abure over the planned convention date.
However, Organised Labour, which constitutes a major power block within the party, has demanded that Abure step down, specifically to allow an election-independent audit into the party’s finances.
There has been running allegations of financial impropriety levelled against the LP National Chairman, the most prominent being that by the suspended National Treasurer.
Meanwhile, the Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the Labour Party (LP) had on Saturday accused Ajaero of being desperate to replace Abure as National Chairman.
In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, the party leadership advised Ajaero to resign his presidency of the NLC first before seeking to replace Abure.
Ifoh’s statement was a response to an open letter written on Friday by the political wing of the NLC, the Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission.
Originally published in Vanguard
