Protesting members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have blocked the main entrance into the National Headquarters of the Labour Party (LP) on Wednesday, demanding the immediate dismissal of the National Chairman, Comrade Julius Abure. The protesters were denied entry into the building by armed regular police officers on duty.
The largely peaceful demonstrators were heard singing solidarity songs, demanding an end to "Abure's reign of corruption tyranny". The NLC leadership had accused Abure of planning to hold an "illegal convention" to perpetuate his rule or, in the alternative, appoint cronies to act on his behalf.
Both 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 significant power block within the party, has called for Abure's resignation, allowing an election-independent audit into the party's finances. This follows allegations of financial impropriety levelled against him by the erstwhile National Treasurer.
Meanwhile, the Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the Labour Party (LP) 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.
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