By Kamil Opeyemi
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has again disowned the factional Chairman of Labour Party, Lamidi Apapa describing him as a meddlesome interloper that is working for interested political actors wishing the party dead.
The NLC in a statement on Wednesday said any attempt to allow him to foist himself as the Labour Party Chairman would be strongly resisted.
The statement titled “Labour disowns Mr. Lamidi Apapa” and signed by Comrade Chris Uyot, Secretary, NLC Political Commission, in Abuja was a reaction to a mild drama at Tribunal on Wednesday.
The organised labour condemned what it described as a show of shame displayed by the factional Chairman at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, Abuja.
“The shameful conduct of Mr. Lamidi Apapa at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal today, 17th May 2023, has once again brought to the fore the desperation of certain elements in the political class to deploy all manner of subterfuge and criminality to divide and despoil the massive goodwill currently being enjoyed by the Labour Party all over Nigeria,” the statement read
“It is very unfortunate that Mr. Lamidi Apapa who continues to act lawlessly as an impostor ascribing to himself a vague status as the Chairman of the Labour Party and on the claims of representing the Nigeria Labour Congress, is clearly receiving protection from institutions of the state whose mandate is the preservation of law and order.
“The Labour Party which was founded by the Nigeria Labour Congress more than three decades ago confers institutional membership on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC). Institutional representation of Organised Labour in the leadership of the Labour Party is at the behest of nomination by the leadership of the national labour centers, or from the affiliate unions or state councils of the NLC and TUC.
“As of today, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Oyo State Council of the NLC which Mr. Apapa Lamidi claims affiliation have completely disclaimed giving Mr. Lamidi Apapa any mandate to act on their behalf in the Labour Party in any capacity whatsoever thus disowning him. The national leadership of the Congress then wonders who Mr. Lamidi Apapa is representing in the Labour Party.
“This perfidy by Mr. Lamidi Apapa and his cohorts has been sustained by interested political actors in Nigeria whose abiding wish is the death of the Labour Party. It is clear that Mr. Lamidi Apapa is a meddlesome interloper who is being used by reactionary forces to deny Nigerians the benefit of alternative political thought and organisation geared towards genuine national redemption and transformation.
“The NLC Political Commission wishes to reiterate its earlier statement disowning the so-called factional leadership of the Labour Party led by Mr. Lamidi Apapa. Any attempt to allow Mr. Lamidi Apapa to foist the show of shame he and his minions exhibited today at the sitting of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal would be strongly resisted by Organised Labour.
While urging the Nigerian workers and people to retain their faith in the judiciary as the bastion of justice and the final refuge of the oppressed, the union also called on all progressive Nigerians to remain vigilant as the court case by the Labour Party is considered by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
“Organised Labour as the custodian of the ideology and values of the Labour Party of Nigeria will not sit back and watch conmen take advantage of our name and goodwill to sell the Labour Party to the highest bidder. The focus of the Political Commission of the Congress is the conscientization of workers and the Nigerian people on the need for good governance,” it added